Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna are summoned to the World of Pokémon as it faces possible destruction. What new lessons in friendship could come of this?
When an ancient foe begins to awaken upon a world after hundreds of years, the aid of a new hero is sought. But this new hero is not from this world but rather one from another universe. Follow this unfolding tale of adventure and see what lessons in friendship can be learned when two royal ponies of differing ages & experience must work together to help save another world.
(A collaboration MLP/Pokémon crossover story with Adamastos)
In the dark of night, deep within the depths of a mountain surrounded by the sea, a meeting of dire importance was about to be held.
“Soso… I am not so certain about this. You know what kind of reputation he holds… What he is capable of doing… Who he has almost dethroned. I do not wish to owe a titan like that any sort of favor.” A fair-voiced female said to her companion as they neared the end of an ancient hallway.
“Neither do I, Lulu.” A male with a voice as gruff as a crackling fire responded to his fair-voiced partner, “but I fear we may have no other choice. More and more pokemon are becoming rampant with every passing day, and the efforts of the Ranger Council to quarantine them within the mystery dungeons have been growing increasingly more difficult.”
The two exited from the carved stone hallway into a large circular room of similar design. With a wave of his head, four torches lining the wall ignited. The light illuminated the center of the room revealing strange symbols that were scattered about the floor. They resembled some form of ancient letters with large eyes placed in the middle of each symbol.
“These events bear many similarities to the ones that happened so long ago, and if they are signs of the past repeating itself… then I think it’s time to call for assistance from beyond our world.” The male stated with deep thoughts of ages past.
The female hung her head in thought, “you're speaking of bringing a human to our world? Like in the legends?”
“A human or any other being that could provide us aid,” he responded. “Giratina is said to be able to open gateways between dimensions, even from his prison in the Distortion World. If the stars are in the right position, like I believe they are, we should be able to reach him through our link to Ultra Space. ”
“And if he were to ask for a uku(1) for his services? I’d rather not have to give up my firstborn child or something unendurable like that.” The female huffed, crossing her wings.
“You know I would never let that happen once that glorious day comes. You, ʻohana(2), and the wellness of our subjects mean everything to me.” The male answered as he nuzzled his partner's face.
“I know.” The gentle creature blushed as she relaxed. “It still doesn’t make me feel any better for what we are about to do.”
The two creatures stood next to each other on the outer edge of the room. Marks upon their heads begin to glow, dispelling any darkness that remains in the room like a supernova. They both concentrated and within seconds, a large ultra space portal of pulsing blue energy opened in the center of the room.
For the first few moments, the two were both worried and relieved that the wormhole they created hadn’t reached its desired location. Only when the portal shifted to a horizontal position and sunk into the floor with mass-less shadows beginning to seep out of it like water from a spring, forming a black tar-like pool over the center of the room, did they realize they had succeeded.
From the shadows of the darkened portal rose a silhouette with two shining red eyes and six black tendrils ending in red spikes. The two creatures stood as steadily as they could in hopes of hiding their fear from the ancient being before them.
“Who summons me?” Asked a voice so foreign it could only be described as an empty echo, a sound that doesn’t reverberate but only fills the area immediately with itself.
The male stepped forward, “we are Solgaleo and Lunala. Mōʻī(3) and Mōʻī Wahine(4) of the Nation of Light. We have contacted you to ask for your aid, Lord Giratina.”
The mound of darkness said nothing right away and only continued to stare at Solgaleo and Lunala with its emotionless expression. “And what would you request of me? You are both legendaries. Beings far beyond the powers of normal pokemon. Along with that, you are royals. You have an army at your command and the Ranger Council at your aid.”
Solgaleo furrowed his brow, he did not have time for the renegade titan’s games. “If you know all this about us, then I’m certain you already have the answer to that question.”
A low chuckle came from Giratina’s form that rumbled like thunder and stone. “Very astute, your majesty. Yes, I am well aware of the blight of madness that burdens your world. But that still doesn’t answer my question. What do you request of me?”
Llawa o kēia lapuwale!(5)” Lunala shouted, flying up to Giratina. “You already know our world is suffering and that we need your help to fix it! We will gladly tell you what we wish you to do, but only if you will stop drawing this out and listen. Every minute we waste talking to you, the world’s situation just gets wor-”
“You’d do best to not speak to me in such a manner, Mōʻī Wahine Lunala.” The air in the room grew deathly cold as Giratina’s power leaked from the portal like poison. The legendaries felt themselves at a loss for breath but kept their composure. They didn’t want to appear weak in front of Giratina.
“Please remember where you both stand.” He turned his gaze back to the king, “you two may be legendaries, but I am not one of your subjects.” His gaze shifts back to Lunala’s glare, “I am a being far beyond either of your capabilities. I was there when the universe first came into existence and I nearly bested my fellow titans in battle. Entertain the idea that I have the patience, or care, for your impatience and you will find not but regret…” pausing for a few moments as Lunala returns to Solgaleo’s side he continued once their tension was gone. “Now, as this is a meeting, I will ask again. What is it you request of me?”
Solgaleo took on an expression of dour compliance. He looked towards Lunala before meeting her eyes, they both knew he was right. Even if this was just an extension of Giratina from his imprisonment in the Distortion World, they both knew he could easily destroy them with a thought. What was worse was that he could just as easily refuse to help them, and in such a decision, sentence them and their subjects to an even more disastrous fate. Lunala needed to apologize, even if every ounce of pride in her body was telling her not to.
“E kala mai iaʻu(6). Forgive me, Lord Giratina. I misspoke.” Lunala bowed her head in respect.
Silence filled the room, almost as if Giratina was weighing the honesty of her statement or simply didn’t care since his point was already made. He was still waiting for the two of them to address why they had called him to their realm.
Solgaleo broke the moment of silence, “we believe that the blight of madness, as you call it, is the result of an old enemy rearing their head once again. We, alongside the other rulers of this world and the Ranger Council, were able to fight them back and seal them away many centuries ago. But as it stands now in the present, I fear none of us are strong enough to do it a second time. We know of your ability to access other dimensions, so we ask of you, please send a warrior to our aid. Someone who can lend us strength and help fight back this ancient enemy. One who can show us a way to finally remove this threat to our world once and for all.”
The projection of Giratina appeared as if in thought for a moment before answering, “very well. I will bring one who can aid in your struggle. But I do ask for a boon. I want the two of you to break the power that binds me from traversing freely between the dimensions of our universe.”
Solgaleo and Lunala realized what he was implying. They backed up, changing their stances to defend themselves as if expecting for Giratina to burst from the portal at that very moment.
“Calm yourselves,” Giratina commanded with a dismissive wave of a spiked tendril. “Despite the reputation that your world has given me I don’t seek destruction. The battle between myself, Dialga, and Palkia was not for conquest on my part, but for the preservation of my realm. My home.”
Both rulers were surprised at hearing that. Looking at each other for a moment before they resumed a more relaxed stance again, they waited to see if Giratina would tell them more, and he did.
“Dialga and Palkia were the ones who had begun the fight with each other. Their powers extend into your world and mine is the dimension that is the reverse side of it. The clash of their powers damaged my realm as it did yours. Normally damage is expected in small ways, but their battling threatened the stability of my home and thus was when I entered the fray. It was our clashing might that drew Arceus’ full attention and my punishment shortly after.”
The king and queen visibly relaxed since the start of this meeting, even if they hadn’t noticed it themselves.
“So I will grant your request if you both give me your word that you shall aid in freeing me.” He stated in an easier tone, the heavy presence he had brought into the room lifting somewhat.
The two legendaries bowed their heads in respect. “Mahalo(7), Lord Giratina. We swear to aid in freeing you if you bring us a hero to aid in defeating our ancient foe.” They said in unison.
Giratina nodded at their words, “very well, I shall bring you a hero who can aid you in the coming ordeal. Until we meet again.”
And with that Giratina’s projection withdrew into the portal and all of his presence disappeared as if it were a dream, leaving the room as it was before.
The two legendaries stood eyes wide and silent for several minutes before Lunala started to laugh, leaning into Solgaleo who got caught in her laughter as he let out a long hearty laugh of his own.
“Soso, I don’t believe I’ve been that strained in centuries,” Lunala said to her king.
Collecting himself he nodded, “I know what you mean, my love. I haven’t been tense like that since the time I first tried courting you.” He replied with a snicker which earned him a loving swat from his queen.
“True as that may be, we have quite a lot more work ahead of us and much to prepare for the hero Lord Giratina brings us,” she stated as she righted herself and they began to exit through the hallway they had entered from, “and just so you know, I thought it was rather cute how nervous you were with your courting back then.” She said as she smiled sweetly.
The king grinned at the memories they had made together all that time ago and thus now they returned home together, free of the fear that had gripped them before their meeting with the titan.
*The Distortion World, Giratina’s Dimension*
The titan held himself in quiet thought as he reviewed the facts of what that world was facing and whether the small world he had in mind would fulfill the island royals request for a suitable champion. Much of the sentient creatures there were experiencing a lack of impressive individuals within current generations. He would have to view that world once more to find one suited to the trials and the impending task ahead. Turning his head he began flying off in a seemingly random direction and released a blast of his energy, forming a portal to a dimension suited to observe. The time of final twilight before the dawn of the inevitable battle was ever nearing.
He flew through the portal, allowing his shadowy visage to take form in another dimension. He expected to appear before a castle that was built into the side of a mountain. The last time he was here that was where he had arrived. Now, however… well, he couldn’t quite place where he was.
The space surrounding him was fluctuating multiple different colors like a kaleidoscope set to hyper speed. Large patches of land, like islands of green dirt, floated in the nothingness like balloons with seemingly no form of gravity or wind to pull them together or push them apart. Waterfalls fell from their undersides and disappeared into clouds of mist above them. Creatures beyond description flew, walked, and even swam through the air as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and in the center of it all, a quaint little house sat on the largest island.
“It’s considered very rude to pop in unannounced, you know?” Giratina’s head turned towards the house upon hearing the new voice address him. In front of the house was a creature composed of several pieces that vaguely resembled the body parts of different pokemon, but were likely called something else in this dimension. It was dressed in an apron and sun hat with a large pair of rubber gloves on each hand. It was currently using a turnip to dig holes so it could plant a row of trowels in front of the house.
“But really who am I to judge? I pop in unannounced all the time!” The creature chuckled to itself as if enjoying some kind of inside joke. “I can’t help myself really. It’s just too funny seeing all those surprised expressions whenever somecreature sees me appear out of thin air.”
The creature turned and smiled at Giratina with a pair of differently sized yellow eyes. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Discord, Equestrian Spirit of Chaos, and who might you be?”
“Giratina… Lord of the Distortion World.” The titan would have said more, but he currently felt unnerved by this being. One wouldn’t usually act so calm after an alien monster appeared out of a portal. He’d either have to be a mortal who had vast experience in summoning or be a godlike entity much like himself and considering the organization of this realm, he was more willing to believe the latter.
Discord stood and snapped his fingers, causing his clothes to vanish in a flash of light. “Forgive me for being blunt. But I can’t help but think, have we met once before?”
“I don’t think that’s likely.” Giratina replied. “This dimension is completely new to me. I was actually following a strong energy source and I was expecting to arrive in a dimension with a land full of a race of creatures called ponies. If I recall correctly, the last time I followed this energy source it took me to a mountain with a castle and town built into it. I believe the mortals called it Canterlot. I can’t quite fathom the reason why it would lead me here now.”
“I zee.” Discord said, now dressed in a lab coat with crazy white hair and a pair of oversized glasses. Continuing to speak with an accent he pulled out a title-less textbook from his pocket, “zen I can broudly azume zis broffes mein hybozezis.”
He turned the textbook around to reveal it was actually a photo album, “vu must haffe Harriffed in Equestria during zee time I vas Himbrizoned. Zee energy zource vu vere folloving must haffe peen me vile I vas on disblay in zee Canderlot Kartens. “
Giratina’s visage flew closer and observed the album, “if this is true, then perhaps you may just be the being I seek to recruit.”
At those words, one of Discord’s eyebrows arched in curiosity, “oh? Do tell.” He encouraged Giratina to tell him more while dropping the accent. Then with a smile and a snap of his tail he made his attire disappear in another flash of light.
Giratina explains his quest to the chaos spirit, “the world in the dimension opposite of mine is threatened by a malevolent entity that is rapidly regaining its power to rise again and finish its goal to drain that world of all energy, including the life energy of everything on it. If that world goes it will cause great irreparable damage to my own. The rulers of that world have entered a pact with me to find a hero to aid in defeating this ancient evil.”
Hearing the titan’s words, Discord took note of a certain word used. Discord threw away his notepad before saying his piece, “interesting, though I do have a question. You said the rulers entered a pact with you. What do you get in return for finding this hero?” Discord asked with a literal twinkle of interest in his eye.
“I shall be unbound from the bonds placed upon my dimension that prevent me from moving freely through the other dimensions of my home universe.” Giratina states.
At that Discord visibly stopped moving in his entirety. He didn’t expect to relate to this creature so easily, nor so close to an experience he himself once endured.
“How long have you been bound?” The draconequus asked.
Giratina mused a moment on the time when he was imprisoned before speaking, “it was shortly after I, along with my fellow titans, came into existence shortly after existence itself. The first one had tasked my fellow two titans with the responsibilities of space and time as each held the power over one. They went about their task, seeing that reality within their jurisdictions acted accordingly. But, while working on a new world they came into conflict. The damage from their fighting affected my own home dimension as it was the opposite of the dimension they were fighting in. When the first one had not bothered to take notice, I was forced to intervene or watch as my dimension suffered permanent damage. While I am stronger than the other two, my destructive nature clashing with theirs got the attention of the first one and he halted the battle. His anger was such that he bound me within my dimension to prevent me from ever leaving and had the other two return to theirs. While I hold a disdain still at the actions of the first one, I had unwisely earned the focus of his anger at that moment when I had voiced my anger at the events that had unfolded, including his lack for taking notice of my fellow titans fighting before I had to deal with them.”
The look on Discord’s face was one of outrage and bafflement, “are you serious? You are, you really are.” He massaged his forehead with his lion paw as he closed his eyes, “I can understand if you had been just thrown back into your dimension and told to stay there for a time by this first one you speak of. But he took his full ire out on you alone because you called him out on not stopping your fellow titans when it was him that had given them the responsibility of maintaining space and time? That is… I can’t even… What is this first one’s problem?!” Discord said as his body turned into literal flames of seething anger, each a different hue of fire for his varied body parts.
Giratina was actually surprised by the response. He had never thought someone would get upset over what had happened to him.
Discord turned his attention back to his guest, “tell you what Giratina, I’m going to help you find a hero for this little pact of yours. I’d go to deal with the problem in this other world myself, but as a spirit of chaos, I tend to cause more problems than fix them when it comes to super-heroics. We have quite a few choice individuals these days in Equestria, even some from other lands.” The chaos spirit assured the titan as he put an arm around his neck. Snapping his eagle talons, he caused a large scroll to appear before them with the images of many creatures on it. “Let us see if we can find the one best suited to your predicament.”
Upon the scroll, Giratina could see many creatures ranging from scales to feathers, hooves to fins, and colors as varied as a bag of jelly beans.
“Now we did just get back some of our more experienced heroes from a thousand years ago-” Discord began telling Giratina of all the creatures he knew of that were good at dealing with big bad villains.
*Equestria, Nighttime, the Everfree Forest*
Elsewhere, a pair of candy blue eyes were staring at a roasting marshmallow more intently than usual, before a curious country accented voice made those eyes blink and turn their attention to the voice’s orange owner.
“You ok there Pinkie?” Applejack asked, “you’ve been starin’ at that there marshmallow for a while now.” Applejack asked her confection loving friend.
Pinkie blinked again and just giggles, “of course I am silly! I was just thinking about a big party I’m planning. But it’s majorly, super-duper, big! hush-hush! So I’m not able to let anyone know about it.” Pinkie explained with a big grin.
Applejack smiled as she figured that was what was on Pinkie’s mind, she was a party pony after all, “well ok Pinkie. S’long as you’re ok.” Applejack said as she ate her roasted marshmallow.
Everycreature around the campfires were busy talking and eating marshmallows, smores, and other fun treats. This camping party Pinkie had put together for the many heroes of Equestria was going better than she had expected. The renovated Castle of the Two Sister was perfect for parties, especially now that the garden had been restored. Though a few like Discord hadn’t been able to show up some other guests like Ember and Thorax had managed to come when invited by their young subjects who were attending the School of Friendship and invited them to enjoy a small break from royal duties. The Pillars were probably enjoying this the most as they were telling many tales of their time to the others. Starswirl was even loosening up from his usually rigid demeanor and was telling stories of Celestia and Luna’s youth, which had the younger pony royals laughing their manes off as the two sisters reactions changed from amusement to embarrassment as their mentor revealed secrets they’d rather never relive.
This was a good night and would make things easier for whoever was going to traverse to this other universe in need of a hero. Pinkie’s pinkie sense was right on the money again, somecreature was going to be traveling to another world. As she concluded that satisfying thought she bit into her marshmallow only to yell, “HOT!!!” and immediately seek the closest liquid to cool her burnt mouth.
“Now let’s see, what other tales are there to tell…” Starswirl questioned as he scratched his beard in thought. “Oh! Perhaps the time a young Celestia discovered my prototype for the magic mirror and ended up traveling to an alternate universe where she met-”
“Or! Perhaps it’s time to let someone else have a turn, Starswirl.” Celestia interjected, her face beet red and hotter with embarrassment then the celestial body she rose every morning. Almost on instinct, she turned her gaze towards Twilight. Her faithful student had prevented so many dire situations before, it wasn’t like she couldn’t solve this threat to her dignity as well. “Why don’t you tell us about one of your adventures, Twilight.”
The princess of friendship suddenly felt tense after being put on the spot like this. She chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her head, “oh you wouldn’t want to hear any of my stories, I’m not very good at retelling them. I’m more of a ‘read books aloud’ kind of pony than spinning fables like Starswirl. Besides, I’m sure you’ve all heard them before.”
“Nonsense, Twilight,” Luna exclaimed, her expression equally as anxious as Celestia’s and just as determined to get the young princess to speak. “I’m certain whatever story you choose will be exceptionally thrilling. Plus it would be refreshing to hear the tales of your adventures as they happened in your factual mind rather than by your friends. No offense to any of them, of course, I just feel some of them have a tendency to over-exaggerate certain details.”
The other princesses and the pillars all nodded their heads in agreement, it would be nice to hear one of her adventures as they actually happened, which they were certain Twilight would be able to deliver given her analytical personality.
The young princess suddenly felt a lot of pressure fall upon her shoulders, and in a fit of nervousness, desperately searched for a way out of having to boast about herself. Thankfully, she found her scapegoat quickly when she saw that their campfire was growing noticeably low.
“Oh, would you look at that!” If Twilight was trying to be subtle, she most certainly was not going the right way about it. “We need more firewood. I’ll just pop out of the castle for a minute and grab some more. Be back in a flash!”
She turned on her hooves and began trotting away at a brisk pace. It was obvious to everypony watching that she was just trying to get out of having to tell a story. They could tell she was nervous even before she started making excuses and it would be lying to say they didn’t feel bad that they drove her to such a reaction with their well-meant encouragement.
Celestia and Luna felt bad for this reason too, but they felt even worse about what Twilight’s absence meant for their shattered prides. A sense of dread filled their cores as they heard Starswirl speak up again, “well I suppose now that Princess Twilight is gone, somepony else will need to tell a story. Would anypony else like a turn?”
“Swirly!” Princess Flurryheart shouted joyfully from between her mother’s folded front legs.
Princess Cadence giggled, “I think Flurryheart wants to hear another story from you, Starswirl.” She turned an impish eye towards her aunts as a smirk spread across her face, “I wouldn’t mind hearing a few more myself actually.”
The princesses of the night and day preemptively gulped. If they weren’t certain of it before, they were sure of it now that any respect they had from the other pillars and the ruler of the Crystal Empire would be gone by morning.
Twilight was frustrated with herself, it wasn’t like she didn’t have any stories worth telling. She raised her head and looked around at all the creatures having fun around the campfires, all the creatures she had a part in bringing together through her actions as an Element of Harmony and the Princess of Friendship. Never before had such a peace been achieved in the world before she became a princess, never before has such harmony existed between the races thanks to her and her friends' teachings. It was truly something to be proud of. Maybe she was just too humble.
It didn’t take long to reach the forest after exiting the castle. If it were several years ago, she might have been afraid to enter the Everfree Forest alone, but with the amount of power she now boasted and countless excursions she made into the woods, it felt more like a casual trip to the Ponyville market more than anything.
She stepped deeper into the forest where she knew she’d be out of sight of everycreature else in the castle. This would be a good place to do some thinking. She walked about the forest floor, picking up any fallen branches or twigs she could find to feed her group’s campfire. She began to wonder why she acted the way she did around the pillars and the other princesses. She did feel nervous at the time, so maybe it was a natural reaction. But why was she nervous? Maybe it was because she was surrounded by her idols, ponies she had always strived to be like since she was just a filly reading fairy tales? It was jarring to think about honestly. That she now stood as an equal to legends like Starswirl the Bearded and Princess Celestia. She couldn’t believe she had reached this point in her lifetime. Most ponies toiled throughout their entire lives to even get their names known, and here she was, helping to rule the nation alongside mares that could be considered gods.
Twilight smiled to herself. To say she had come far for a little antisocial unicorn growing up in Canterlot would be the understatement of the millennium. Her smile grew wider as she turned it towards the large bundle of firewood she had collected. She decided right then and there she’d go back and tell all her idols the greatest story they ever heard. It would be as real as the day she lived it and she would leave no facts uninvolved. After all, this was her journey she’d be retelling and she’d want it to be as amazing an adventure for them as it had been for her.
She turned to head back towards the castle, only to see one of the ponies she had been thinking about trotting towards her.
“Princess Luna?” She called out to the pony in question.
Luna turned her head back from over her shoulder to see Twilight was blocking the path before her. “Oh, Princess Twilight! Hello.” She brought her hoof up and ran it through her ethereal mane in embarrassment. “Forgive us. We weren’t aware you went this way to collect firewood.”
Twilight giggled but tried to hide it with her hoof. “You seem flustered Princess, is something the matter?” Like she didn’t already know.
Luna blushed and blinked in surprise, “you can tell?”
“You haven’t used the Royal ‘We’ since your first Nightmare Night, and a book I read once said that ponies tend to fall into old habits when they become stressed or anxious.”
Luna’s eyes widened, but soon after she began to laugh. Much like most of the castle’s library, her sister’s faithful student could read her like a book. A prime example of how much she had come to understand about friendship during her time as a princess. “As this generation would say, you’ve hit the nail right on the head. Call it silly, but I needed to get away from Starswirl for a while. As much of a father figure and mentor he’s been to me and though I cherish all the memories we share, there are some memories I’d wish he’d have the tact to keep quiet.”
Twilight waved her off with a hoof and a sympathetic smile. “If it makes you feel any better, my parents are the exact same way. I can’t begin to tell you how embarrassed Shining Armor and I were when he and Cadence started dating. By the end of their fiftyth tale about our foalhoods, we were afraid Cadence would never look at us the same way again.”
Luna chuckled, “it’s a little different when you’ve been ruling a kingdom for several odd millennia, Twilight. Ever since the paparazzi was invented, they’ve been looking for secrets to use against us, Equestria’s oldest living celebrities.” She shook her head, dismissing her concern, “thankfully, Starswirl is wise enough to not speak of anything too incriminating for fear of just such reasons.”
Twilight nodded, “then perhaps it’s time we head back to the castle? I know for a fact Princess Celestia would prefer your company alongside her misery. Plus I was planning to start telling some of my own stories. Hopefully, give you and your sister a break from all those embarrassing trips down memory lane.”
They turned to head back towards the castle, “finally… I’ve finally found you.” Only to stop when they heard a deep echo that sounded almost like a voice. “I came here just to find you.”
Turning back around their eyes were greeted by an enormous vortex of shadows hosting a pair of menacing glowing red eyes, “your strength is needed.” The mysterious voice told the two of them, the owner's silhouette showing only in shifting glimpses through the portal’s swirling darkness.
Both princesses took a quick glance at each other as if to confirm what they were seeing was indeed real. They both took up defensive stances as Luna stepped out in front of her sister’s former student. “I do not know who you are or what your intent maybe, but if you have come to capture us I assure you we shall not be taken so easily. Explain yourself quickly and mayhaps battle shall be avoided this night.”
Before Luna could make good on her threat or Giratina could explain things any further, both princesses felt a sudden pinch at the base of their necks. They fell unconscious as Discord stood over them. He was dressed in a long-sleeve blue shirt with a black bowl cut on his head.
“That would be most illogical, princess. Our friend here has little time to explain his actions.” He then grabbed his shirt and ripped it off his body like tissue paper and took off his bowl cut revealing it to be a bowl of wheat cereal with milk and a spoon.
Giratina paused and looked at Discord in confusion. “I appreciate the aid, Discord. But I don’t believe that course of action was required. I could have easily explained my presence without inducing any conflict.”
Discord sighed as he ate a spoonful of cereal, “it happens every time, if I dress up as anyone other than Q somebody gets uppity.” He took a bite out of the bowl, somehow causing none of its contents to spill. “Despite what you think of my methods, trust me when I say they’re necessary. Ponies have a tendency to judge others according to their appearances, and I’m sorry to say this, but you're not the friendliest-looking creature around.”
Giratina looked down at the princesses before reaching through the portal and wrapping his tendrils around them, “without further observations of this world, I will have to take your word for it. Though I still wish you hadn’t resorted to such actions.” He voiced as he gently lifted the two mares off the ground.
“I believe this mare, Twilight Sparkle, may be capable of bringing balance to that world now thrown into madness. The accomplishments you have shown me make her seem more than qualified. But this prejudice present in the pony society you mention…it concerns me. I know our deal was that I only take one hero from Equestria, but perhaps two would be safer? If only to have two minds overseeing the problem and make better decisions based on differing opinions.”
Discord was now dressed in a smoking jacket with a tobacco pipe and thick glasses on his face. “Just as long as you treat them right and have them back before midnight, young man. And no funny business, my little princesses are very important to me.” He tutted his pipe at Giratina like a supportive father on his daughter’s first date.
“Be aware, Discord,” Giratina said as he held Luna and Twilight before his portal, “once I transport these two to the pokemon world, my time in the mortal plane will be done. I will not be able to watch over them and it will be up to them to look out for each other and find allies to keep themselves safe.”
“No worries then.” Discord snapped his finger making his clothes disappear again. “Twilight is intelligent and has an uncanny talent for making friends. And Luna… well she's always combat-ready and far more versed in politics and the harsher aspects of life than Twilight .” Discord smiled a heartfelt grin at the two princesses. “Together they should be able to balance each other out and keep each other safe. I’m 132% sure of it.”
“I hope you're right.” Giratina pulled the two into the portal, “because the pokemon world will need all the help it can get.” Once the princesses disappeared into the black mass, the portal began to shrink. “Thank you for your aid Discord. Your kindness will not be forgotten.”
The draconequus waved to the titan as the portal closed, addressing him as if he were a friend leaving from a playdate. Once the portal closed however, Discord’s smile and hand both fell. “Wish I had 200% confidence in them.” He sighed, “whelp, guess I got a new story to tell everycreature at the party.” He turned and began walking towards the castle. “Wonder if they have any marshmallows left? I’ve still got some chunky pineapple salsa I’ve been meaning to finish before it goes bad.”
Giratina’s portal reopened in the ancient room where he had first been summoned by Solgaleo and Lunala. His tendrils slowly exited the portal, gently placing Twilight and Luna on the floor as he took note of the time that had passed in this dimension. The torches were extinguished and the royals had clearly made their leave some time ago.
His gaze returned to the princesses he had abducted. While traversing the space between dimensions, he had taken the time to transform their bodies using his lesser-known abilities. They now possessed forms more befitting of the creatures inhabiting this world. Hopefully, this would give them the edge they needed when faced with opposition. Their old bodies would likely not be able to withstand the strain from attacks that came the native creatures of this world. It would also aid in keeping any pokemon from becoming too nosy. As much as he hated to admit it, much like Equestria, pokemon had had an unfortunate tendency of antagonizing things they didn’t understand, himself being a prime example.
He watched the princesses’ chests rise and fall as if they were in a calm slumber. Despite the unease he felt having to leave them like this, he would not be able to interact with this world for much longer as the stars were already beginning to come out of alignment. He could only leave them in the care of Solgaleo and Lunala and hope they would return before morning to take them to far more secure and hospitable accommodations.
He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, almost as if he were composing himself. Giratina was not one to speak ideally, he had cast the die on this chance to gain his freedom and would have to leave it to these two who were unaware of what they had been tasked with. He could only watch what would unfold and accept the outcome of every event. With the time allowed to him ending, he closed the portal behind him, leaving Twilight and Luna alone in the dark.
Outside of the ancient chambers, hidden by the moonlit shadow of the mountain, two figures were conversing, “it has been hours since the Mōʻī and Mōʻī Wahine performed the summoning ritual. They must have retired from the sacred chamber by now.”
The shorter of the two scoffed, “they likely departed already some time ago, but you refused to let me check, bzzzrt. We could have collected the aliens hours ago, but no, you said we needed to wait! So don’t start whining to me because you suddenly feel impatient.”
A growl rumbled out of the taller figure’s throat, "don’t. Patronize me.” He warned, “just scan the area and see how many bodies are within the chamber. If we don’t act upon this opportunity now, we risk having to deal with direct opposition to our goals in the future, and I will not allow anything to threaten my master if it can be prevented.”
The smaller figure rolled his eyes, but nevertheless did what he was told. A pulse of green energy radiated off the smaller figure’s body, forming a dome, before expanding over the mountain and a small diameter of the ground below, “my scans show that only two bodies are in the chamber at this moment, bzzzrt. The rest of the mountain’s surface is also vacant. They’re energy levels are significantly low, so they can’t be the legendaries. If we are going to strike, now would be the time, bzzzrt.”
The taller figure nodded his head before turning to a trio of beheeyem that had been listening to their conversation, “you three are going to enter and retrieve the targets, so be swift, but be discreet. You are to levitate yourselves the entire time you are in there, leave absolutely no trace of your presence in the chamber, is that understood?!”
Instead of answering, several colorful lights flashed off the fingertips of each beheeyem. The taller figure understood this as their form of affirming they would follow his commands.
“Once you have successfully removed them from the mountain, meet us in the nearest dungeon. We’ll dispose of the targets there and allow the rampant pokemon to strip their bones.”
More lights flashed and the beheeyem each floated into the tunnel leading to the chamber.
The smaller figure couldn’t help but chuckle at the taller’s demeanor, “you seem quite adamant about completing this mission… even more so than usual.” The taller figure leveled a glare at his cohort, “what happened to bring about this sudden interest, I wonder, bzzzrt? Did the master whisper more sweet-nothings in your ear to get you more invigorated?”
Despite the tension in his gaze, the taller figure’s voice was eerily calm, “our spy in the castle told me that the Mōʻī and Mōʻī Wahine were making deals with titans to bring champions to this world that could stop our master’s return. I gave the master this information and was ordered to deal with it. I will not go against my master’s orders.” He placed a hand on the smaller figure’s head and began to press downwards, forcing the smaller creature onto his rump, “but I wonder, now that you poke fun at our mission, where does your loyalty lie?”
The smaller figure groaned, unable to scream in pain as he felt his body being compacted into the ground like an empty can, “w-with the master of course! I would never partake in anything that could prevent their return. And anyone who would say otherwise is a liar! Bzzzrt! BZZZRT!”
The taller figure raised his hand before any true damage could be done. “You really are nothing more than a sniveling bug. I would watch what you say in the future, or you’ll find I may not be so lenient.” Without even a second thought, the taller figure leaped from the mountainside and began soaring through the air.
Grumbling under his breath, but too frightened to speak his mind a second time, the smaller figure floated up fast behind him. The two soon vanished into the jungle canopy when they were far enough away.
The three beheeyem performed exactly as they were commanded. They drifted into the sacred chamber like balloons, unable to sink or rise. They surrounded Luna and Twilight before one began to flash the lights on his hands in order: first red, then yellow, and finally green.
The other two raised their arms and lifted both princesses into the air as if they were possessed. The third stayed behind as the other two carried the princesses towards the entrance and used his powers to levitate the dust around the floor to hide any sign that their captives had been laying there.
Amazingly, the princesses didn’t awaken as they were carried through the air. The two beheeyem were showing the utmost focus just to keep them from jostling. The third soon joined them in their efforts, and once he had a firm telekinetic grasp on the supposed champions, they all took to the sky in tandem.
They flew in formation, each floating in a circle around the unconscious princesses with their arms extended outwards. They lowered themselves closer to the jungle canopy to avoid detection from any enemies that may have been soaring overhead. The canopy was thick and often prevented denizens below from seeing the sky at any time of day. They believed this fact alone would be enough to keep them hidden until they reached the dungeon, but unfortunately they were wrong.
Within the treetops, two pairs of eyes were observing them, “who are these big heads?! Don’t they know this is Melon Baller territory?” Two passimians popped out of the leaves a fair distance away from the three kidnappers.
One of the passimians scratched his head as he contemplated the other’s accusation, “can we really say they’re in our territory when they’re flying above the trees? I mean, I’m always up for pasting a few trespassers, but when you really stop to think about the semantics of it, are we really in the right to do so?”
The first passimian bonked the second on his noggin, “if I wanted a lesson in the moral thing to do I would go home and visit my mom. Now stop talking like a sentimental nerd and pass me the melons. We’re gonna knock those losers clean out of the sky!”
The second passimian nodded and shot down to the forest floor before returning with a woven leaf bag filled with the aforementioned fruit. Both reached into the bag and pulled out a respectively large melon each before cocking their arms back like professional football players.
“Ready… Aim…”
The kidnappers’ destination wasn’t much farther, so the three creatures decided to quicken their pace to make certain they wouldn’t face any opposition. Suddenly a melon splattered against the leftmost beheeyem's back, sending him flying into the treetops. The other two acted almost immediately to pick up the slack for their missing member.
A barrage of melons soon came barreling at them like a violent game of dodgeball. It took all of their focus and coordination just to fly straight and not rouse their captives from their slumber. Unfortunately, they didn’t get much farther before both were knocked out of the air like their fallen comrade before them. The two beheeyem fell and landed in the branches below, while Luna and Twilight were dropped through a hole in the canopy.
The two apes cheered and high fived each other, “yeah! We nailed them!” One exclaimed.
The other soon grabbed his partner by the shoulders and shook him excitedly, “dude, those losers have gotta be out cold after the shots we made! We should totally bolt over there and jack their stuff! I mean, who’s gonna stop us?!”
The other passimian pushed him off almost immediately, “what are you, a doofus? Didn’t you see where those things landed? That’s a dungeon, knucklehead! As in the place pokemon enter, but never come out! Whatever those things were, they’re as good as gone now.” He began to climb back into the tree’s branches, “so we might as well just stay here and get back to sleep.”
The first passimian groaned, “ughhh weeeaak! Fine, but you better not hog all the blankets this time!”
Sometime the next morning, when the sun was at a point in the sky where it could shine through the leaves of the canopy, Twilight was awoken when she felt the warm rays touch her eyelids.
She stirred, slowly getting back to her feet even before opening her eyes. She blinked several times and smacked her lips like she had just finished a trek through the desert. Twilight had never felt this sore after sleeping before. It almost felt like she had just fallen out of the sky.
She looked around at the tropical forest surrounding her, but couldn’t make out a lot of finer details of her location. Her vision was blurry. Her eyes had not yet adjusted to the early morning light.
Twilight lifted her front legs and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She began to ponder what she did last night that would cause her to wake up in the middle of the forest. She remembered being at a party in the Castle of the Two Sisters before leaving to get firewood. She then recalled having a conversion with Princess Luna just before everything went blank. She couldn’t remember anything else after that point.
Twilight shook her head and slapped her face, trying to wake herself up ever further. Her throat was killing her. She needed to grab a drink before she could even consider thinking about anything else. Her ears seemed to adjust faster than her eyes, because she swore she could hear the sounds of a babbling brook nearby. Following the sounds, she came across a small spring with said brook leading away from it. Without hesitation, she stuck her muzzle in and began lapping up as much water as her stomach could carry.
The liquid was cool and refreshing, and like a cold shower after hopping out of her warm bed, Twilight felt herself wake up even faster after she decided to dunk her head in on a whim. Twilight gasped and pulled her head away from the spring. She then backed away and shook the water from her fur.
She glanced at her reflection in the pool while sitting back to let the rays of the sun dry her face. Despite her lack of memory, she felt oddly content as she relaxed in this unknown location. The area was quite, with only the faint sounds of nature present to assault her ears. The ripples in the water slowly began to fade, allowing Twilight a clearer view of her face.
She jumped back in shock and alarm when she realized the face that was looking back at her wasn’t that of a pony, but instead one of a cat.
Twilight lifted her hooves and shrieked when she noticed they had been replaced with paws. She ran them over her face, feeling her now shorter muzzle, extremely large ears, and the strangely placed gem embedded into her forehead where her horn used to be.
Twilight was starting to hyperventilate. She had to be dreaming. This had to be a dream. In fact, she had had dreams like this before, so that was only further proof that this was a dream!
She brought her paw up to her chest and began to do the breathing exercise she had learned from Princess Cadence. It helped to calm her down, but not by much.
Now encouraged by her previously unknown transformation, Twilight began to rack her brain for any shred of memory that could tell her how she had ended up in this situation.
Her mind briefly lingered on the memory of Princess Luna and how that memory was the last thing she could recall before her amnesia kicked in. Twilight began to wonder if the lunar princess had anything to do with her currently transformed state, or for that matter, anything to do with the situation at all. Twilight soon started to entertain the idea that everything that had been happening to her in the moment actually was a dream, and that Princess Luna had just been playing a prank on her.
Twilight began to chuckle, “alright Princess Luna, I see what you're doing here. You got me good. I admit it. But you promised you wouldn’t start the practical jokes until after everycreature went to sleep. So if you could please terminate this strange dream, I would very much appreciate it.” She received no reply and the dream didn’t fade. Twilight knit her brows in confusion, “Princess Luna?”
“Not now, sister, please.” Twilight turned around upon hearing the new voice calling out to her. With her vision now clear, she could see a large lump of blue fur lying curled up on the ground in front of her, “I will have many dreams to survey tonight, so I’ll need as much sleep as I can get.” Twilight felt an anxious feeling build up in her stomach again, “I can’t risk nodding off while I’m in the dream world. Things get very strange when you fall asleep in a dream, and it becomes very difficult to find your way back to the waking world again.” Luna’s voice was coming from the lump of fur.
A deep feeling of trepidation guided Twilight’s actions as she slowly stepped closer to the lump and poked it in the side. Warily, she asked, “Princess Luna? Is that you?” Twilight desperately wished for this to be the part where Luna would turn around and shout “boo!” Thus proving this all to be an extremely elaborate prank.
The lump rolled over to give the annoyance keeping her awake a stern piece of her mind. Princess Twilight and Princess Luna soon shouted in terror at what they saw.
Luna had been changed into a mad diamond dog looking creature with white and blue fur covering its body. She jumped back and landed on all fours, “who are you, creature?!” She then looked around at the tropical jungle surrounding her, “where have you taken me?!”
Twilight lifted her front paws and held them out in front of her to show she meant no harm, “Princess Luna, it’s me! Princess Twilight Sparkle!”
The princess turned wolf blinked at her in surprise, “Twilight..? Twilight Sparkle? What in the name of my sister has happened to you?”
Twilight grimaced back at the princess, “the same thing that’s happened to you, I’m afraid.”
Luna blinked a second time, then looked down at her own body in confusion. She shrieked in sudden alarm and began running her claws through her fur as if to make certain what she was seeing was real. She looked back up at Twilight with a look of utter disbelief on her face. Twilight swallowed some saliva that was pooling in her mouth, then nervously asked, “So I’m gonna guess this isn’t a dream then, huh?”
For the next few minutes the princesses tried to compose themselves following their initial panic. Once she thought a sufficient amount of time had passed, Twilight asked Luna what she remembered before passing out. She wasn’t too thrilled by the answer she received.
“You can’t remember past that point either?” Twilight asked. Fear was slowly starting to take hold of her mind again.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t recall anything further than the conversation we had in the Everfree.” Luna looked around at the tropical flora surrounding her, “this should go without saying, but it also concerns me greatly that we awoke in a different forest then the one we were in prior.”
Twilight nodded, “you and me both.” She glanced around at the tropical flora as well. She recognized a lot of the native plant life from some books on foreign botany she had read in her spare time, “this place reminds me more of a location from a Daring Do novel, then the Everfree Forest.” She looked back at Luna quizzically, “do you think we're still in Equestria?” Twilight held onto the faintest hope that Luna would say yes. She knew it was highly unlikely, but it was the only thing keeping her from having a full on freak out like she did the first time she had turned into a human.
Those memories of being human soon moved to the forefront of her mind. She recalled that awkward transition period she had where she was trying to learn human behavior through observation and experimentation. Not until she met the human versions of her friends did she learn how to walk, talk, and generally act like a normal human being. Twilight soon realized that the situation she found herself in now was strikingly similar to the situation she found herself in then, even despite the obvious differences.
She signed and looked at her paws. She was feeling oddly more relaxed after spotting the comparison. At least this time she had the benefit of changing into something that walked on four legs. Whenever she and Luna returned to Equestria, the transformation back would be much less jarring than when she changed from a bipedal creature to a quadrupedal one.
“I don’t believe that is likely.” Luna answered, “But I suppose we won’t know for certain until we leave this dense jungle and survey the land. Being as experienced as I am, I am very familiar with the landscapes of the kingdom.” A slight smirk spread across Luna’s lips. Twilight could tell she felt a bit of pride after getting to state that fact, “I should be able to denote our location based on any noticeable landmarks that are in the area.”
They began to look more closely at the location they found themselves in. They were flanked on either side by two gigantic groves of massive trees that seemed to continue outwards as far as the eye could see. The trees, though roughly the size of small buildings, were not growing close enough together to prevent the princesses from entering either grove, but the sheer maze like structure of the tree growth made them hesitant to proceed due to the fear of not being able to find a way out again. In front, behind, and where they currently sat was a path that led in two separate directions. At either end was an opening in the surrounding forest that presumably would take them to another open area of the jungle. A strangely placed statue also sat upon the cleared path alongside the transformed travelers. It depicted a strange ungulate like creature with a long wisp of hair flowing off the back of its head and a fence-like ornament wrapped around its midsection. It was oddly clear of any vegetation, dirt, or damage and looked as pristine as if it had been placed in the jungle that very day.
Luna and Twilight wordlessly agreed to consider the statue unimportant for now as they came up with their next course of action, “so which direction do you think we should go?” Twilight asked, “North or south?”
“I doubt it really matters.” Luna explained, “follow any path long enough and you’re sure to find an exit.” She looked back at Twilight. The younger princess suddenly realized the decision would fall onto her, “just pick one and we’ll move forwards from there.”
Twilight looked between the two exits on either side of her. Her eyes eventually fell on the opening to the north, “let’s head that way.” She decided, her voice lacking certainty.
Twilight stood still for a second as if expecting Luna to lead. When she was met with only an expectant look from her elder princess however, the younger princess decided to take the hint and push forward.
Once they reached the opening, the two exchanged one last nod of affirmation before heading forwards into the next section of the dungeon.
*Capricious Canopies, S2*
As soon as Twilight and Luna wandered into the next area of the jungle, they were caught off guard by the sounds of branches snapping and leaves rustlings. They both quickly turned around just in time to see the path behind them was slowly being covered by a thick bramble of tropical ground vegetation. Almost as if on instinct, Twilight shot forward and began trying to pull the vines and woody plants away that blocked their path backwards. The plant life seemed to notice this, and swatted her back towards her companion as if she were an insect.
The branch that hit her left a stinging pain on Twilight’s skin as she hit the ground and Luna rushed to her side. They both looked back up at the path they had just traveled as the living plants covered the last of their previous location from view.
“It would seem this place carries some form of inherent magic. Perhaps we are in Equestria?” She looked down at Twilight and began to run her claws through her fur to check for any wounds, “are you alright, Twilight? I do hope you're not injured.”
Twilight pulled away from Luna and got back to her feet, “I’m a little dazed. But I don’t think it’s anything I can’t walk off.” She took one last glance at the brambles that blocked their path backwards, “I guess we won’t be going back in that direction.”
Luna nodded in agreement, “it is curious. It feels almost as if the forest does not permit backtracking.” They both turned around and noticed a trio of grassy paths, unobstructed by the massive trees, that lead to different areas of this section of the forest. Where the paths ended were currently out of sight from the two wayward travelers.
“How do we know which way to go?” Twilight asked as she ran her eyes between the three paths in front of them.
Luna shook her head, “I am uncertain.” She glanced at the three paths as well, before finally deciding to follow the center one, “I fear our only course of action is to pick a path and follow it until it leads us to an exit. If not, we’ll just have to come back here and try another direction.”
Twilight, being a very analytical and structured mare by nature, didn’t feel too content throwing caution to the wind and following a path without some form of logical reasoning guiding her in that direction. She didn’t have any better ideas however, so she reluctantly decided to follow the elder princess’s lead.
Luna limbered herself up before heading down the path, “I shall take point. You, watch our rear. If there are any dangerous creatures in this jungle, I don’t want them taking us by surprise.”
Twilight had almost forgotten what multiple trips into the Everfree Forest have taught her. In wild environments, it always paid to have your head on a swivel just in case hungry animals were on the prowl. Their new forms concerned her however. Without the aid of horns, wings, or magic, the ex-mares would need to rely on the defenses their new bodies provided them. Twilight experimentally flexed the digits on her front paws, noticing five retractable claws appear every time she did so. She would need to rely on these, and possibly her teeth, if she ever needed to defend herself. It was an odd first thought to have, but she was immediately repulsed by the idea of biting another creature. Anything they came across would likely be unwashed and a possible carrier of disease or parasites. The taste alone, she imagined, would be terrible in its own right.
Twilight looked up and noticed that Luna had left her behind. She was now much farther down the path, forcing the ex-mare to run to catch up to her. A startled cat noise came from her mouth before she started to run. She blushed faintly, hoping Luna didn’t hear her sudden cry of distress.
Luna and Twilight trailed down the path, noticing little of anything that would pull their focus away from their current objective. Despite their situation, they couldn’t help but feel slightly tranquil while traversing the forest. The jungle, though mysterious, was almost beautiful in a way, with tropical plants and flowers the two had never seen before growing in every direction. The sounds of the jungle, though some were loud and somewhat intimidating, were also pleasing to the ear, almost like the two were the private audience to symphony.
The two travelers let out a sigh. They both decided to let their guards down for a brief moment, so they could enjoy the ambiance of the tropical setting around them. It was at this point that they heard a rustling in the bushes.
They both turned, each getting on all fours in a stance that showed they were ready for battle. A small black rat, followed by two others, soon rushed out and screeched at them, “RATTATA!”
Luna and Twilight fell back on their haunches and stared at the trio of rats in confusion. They looked at each other before glancing back at the rodents, “should… should we walk past them?” Twilight asked, “I doubt they can really do anything to majorly hurt us.”
Luna nodded, “we’ve likely just come too close to their nest, so they’re defending their territory. If we leave, they’ll more than likely scamper back into their home.”
Luna began to step forwards past the rats, only to have one jump in front of her and bite her in the leg. The rat’s teeth sunk in pretty deep despite its size, leaving behind a wound that was noticeable, but would likely go away on its own if given time to heal.
“OUCH!” Luna shook her front leg, knocking the rodent off. She glared at the rats, who were huddling close together just in case Luna decided to attack back. “Clearly, I underestimated their bravery when it comes to defending their home.”
Twilight walked past her towards the rats, “let me handle this, princess.” A prideful smirk was present on Twilight’s muzzle. Luna did not recall ever seeing an expression like this on the young alicorn’s face before, so she assumed Twilight had a foolproof plan for removing the rodents.
She meowed and hissed at them while threateningly swiping her claws. The rats seemed unafraid of these actions, but even more important, Luna was confused by Twilight’s choice for a solution, “what are you doing?” Luna asked unabashedly.
Twilight blushed when she realized her plan wasn’t working. She turned back towards the lunar princess with an embarrassed smile on her face, “I was just… you know, trying to scare them away?” A drop of sweat rolled down the back of Twilight’s head, “I mean, I look like a cat. So by that logic, I assumed they’d be afraid of me.”
Twilight chuckled anxiously, but soon that laughter was replaced by a sudden pained yelp when one of the rats bit down on her tail. Twilight jumped in the air, reaching a surprisingly high elevation, before falling back down towards the ground. Almost as if on instinct, Luna held her front legs out and the alicorn turned cat soon landed in her forelegs. Twilight grasped her tail and began to caress it to alleviate the pain.
The rats were laughing at them at this point.
Luna’s eyelids lowered in an annoyed expression, “okay.” She dropped Twilight, causing the younger alicorn to land painfully on her back. She stalked closer towards the rats with one paw raised, ready to smack the three annoyances aside. Then suddenly, she heard another rustle in the bushes.
The cat and wolf turned as a much larger rat, roughly about their size, with puffy cheeks and two pairs of incisors on its top and lower jaws stepped out of the bushes and towards them. The three rats soon rushed behind it. It screeched at them in a much deeper voice, “RATICATE!”
Luna and Twilight jumped back in surprise. Luna blinked at the creature, “this must be their leader.” She surmised.
“It’s huge!” Twilight exclaimed.
Luna cracked her neck, an excited smile spreading across her face, “this is true. Even so, a rat is still a rat… and rats are easily exterminated.”
Luna rushed forward with her claw outstretched to her side. The rat jumped to the side deftly avoiding Luna’s scratch. Its incisors began to glow with a bright light, much to Luna’s surprise. It lunged at the lunar princess, forcing her to jump back before his teeth could come down on her shoulder. She was breathing heavily. Even though the attack missed, she could still feel the power behind it as the rat’s teeth came together.
Luna gritted her teeth, “this may be more difficult then I first thought.” She barreled forward and crashed into the rat’s stomach, sending both of them to the ground with Luna sitting above him. She began to pelt the rodent with blow after blow while it was downed. Twilight watched transfixed as Luna delivered another punch to the right side of the rat’s face, completely unaware that the trio of smaller rats were sneaking up behind her.
One of the rats bit her in the back of the leg, causing her to howl in pain. Luna looked back, suddenly losing all sense of self when she heard Twilight was in danger. The mare turned cat was now swatting at the smaller rats like an Equestrian housecat would when chasing field mice. The smaller rats were doing an excellent job of avoiding her however and were making her look like a fool as they darted around and through her legs as she clumsily swatted at the ground. The larger rat saw it’s opportunity to attack while Luna was distracted. Reeling back, it swung it’s head forward, colliding its forehead with Luna’s. The elder princess was sent staggering backwards as the rat got back to its feet. Its fangs began to glow with the same blinding light as before. It had had enough of these games and was now ready to end the fight.
It rushed forward, it’s jaws opened as far as they could go… unfortunately, Luna agreed with the rat’s current state of mind.
Almost like a dancer, Luna fluidly spun around the rat’s side before stopping right in front of its tail end. Before the massive rat could react, she grabbed it by the tail and began to spin it around in place, “our name is Princess Luna, diarch of the kingdom of Equestria! We come from royal blood, and we refuse to be ridiculed by the likes of you!” Luan’s voice turned into a roar and her old way of speaking quickly became clear as she continued her rant. The smaller rats and Twilight actually froze when they heard Luna start shouting at their leader. She spun faster, the rat actually extending to its full tail’s length from the sheer velocity of Luna’s rotations, “leave our sight and never return! Or else, face the wrath of a hundred years of combat experience!”
She let the giant rat go, sending him squealing off the path into the dense underbrush of the forest around them. The smaller rats couldn’t believe their eyes. They’re boss had just been beaten and with such little effort. So transfixed were they in their disbelief, that they didn’t notice Twilight sneaking up behind them and readying her paw. With a wicked smile, Twilight slapped the rats clean on their backsides sending them flying, though clearly not as far as Luna’s rat, into the forest underbrush as well.
The two princesses soon heard the sound of scurrying in the leaves, alerting them that their adversaries had made a sudden and hasty retreat.
Luna smiled and placed her paws on her hips in victory. Twilight soon collided with her back however, bringing her into a hug and promptly ruining any other cool poses she was intending to do. “We won!” Twilight squealed in elation, “can you believe it?!”
Luna nodded her head, “was there really any doubt with such weak opponents?” She turned back in the direction they had been heading and motioned for Twilight to follow. Soon enough they reached the end of their chosen path and found a similar looking opening to the one that led them to this section of the forest. The two exchanged one more victorious smile before heading forwards into the next area of the dungeon.
*Capricious Canopies, S3*
The next section of the dungeon was much darker when compared to the last area. The jungle canopy above, unlike the canopy before, was much thicker and possessed a lot less openings for sunlight to enter through. This gave this section of dungeon a much more eerie feel and quickly put the two princesses on edge.
They weren’t quite certain why, but Twilight and Luna could feel the presence of power in this part of the forest. Much like when that large rat used its glowing teeth ability, that same feeling of overwhelming strength permeated the air, as if telling them the creatures in this area would not be so easily dealt with as their last opponents.
Before the princesses, there were two paths this time. One was leading forward and the other led to the left. Luna and Twilight decided to take the path to the left on a whim. They saw no particular advantage of picking one path over the other, so they just went with their gut feelings.
The path led them through a large field of tall grass that rose over their heads. The path they continued to follow was an area completely cleared of any vegetation. It was almost as if someone had run through the field in a straight line while brandishing a scythe.
This part of the jungle was eerily quiet, which went along well with the section's lack of lighting. The extreme lack of noise put the two even further on edge, likely to the point of jumping should they hear even the slightest bit of noise that wasn’t caused by their own feet. A loud stomp suddenly proved this theory correct as something large and heavy came meandering down the path in front of them.
The tip of the creature’s head came into view over the lip of an incline both Luna and Twilight were about to descend. They both froze and got into stances that would show the creature in front of them that they were ready for a fight. But before they could even see their adversary however, something came shooting out of the grass and tackled them into the other forest of grass on the opposite side. Before Twilight and Luna had time to yelp, they felt two fingerless mitts clamp over their mouths. A reptilian creature with sooty black skin and an oddly form fitting skull on its head looked over its shoulder as it kept their mouths shut.
They followed the creature’s eyes and soon felt their own pairs widen when they saw the other creature they were about to challenge. It was a large, bipedal, dragon-like animal with a green, armor-like hide covering its body. It stood roughly at the size of a grizzly bear standing at its full height, with several spikes of varying size covering the back of its neck, head, and shoulders. It had no wings, and though considerably small in comparison to some of the dragons Twilight and Luna had seen, the strong intimidating aura the beast exuded was almost enough to put most full grown dragons to shame.
The creature stomped by as Luna and Twilight continued to follow it with their eyes. Once they were sure the beast was far enough away, the skull faced creature released their muzzles and began walking towards the other side of the path, “what in the name of my sister was that?”
“Tyranitar.” The skull faced creature said unenthusiastically. Its voice was moderately deep, making the two girls realize that he was male. He picked up what looked like a bone and began walking down the path the tyranitar had come from. As he walked away, the two noticed a one strap bag, seemingly made of sewn together leaves, wrapped around his torso. Twilight rushed over to him before he could get too far.
“I’m sorry we haven’t thanked you yet. If you hadn’t been around, that monster would have teared us to shreds, Mister…”
“Mortimer. Just Mortimer.” The creature gave no other reply. The air soon fell silent again as Twilight and Luna followed a polite distance behind Mortimer. The awkwardness of the moment did not escape the two princesses as time continued to march on. The skull-faced creature was not putting any effort into shooing them away, but neither was he attempting to talk to them.
Twilight decided to correct this by restarting the conversation herself, “my name is Twilight Sparkle and this is my friend Luna.” She decided to forgo using their full titles as princesses for the moment, because she surmised they would hold very little power here.
Mortimer was silent for a moment before replying, “odd names.”
Twilight and Luna were taken aback, but for the sake of diplomacy and in trying to keep up a friendly demeanor with the creature that saved their lives, they ignored his blunt comment.
“So what are you doing so deep in the forest, Mortimer?”
“Collecting berries and supplies.” As if to prove his point he reached down and pulled a herbaceous plant out by the roots. He examined it for a short while before placing it in his bag.
To their surprise, he was the one who asked the next question, “what are you two doing out here in the middle of a mystery dungeon? It's not usually the kind of place pokemon like you want to hang out.”
Twilight raised a curious eyebrow at his statement, “what do you mean by that?”
Mortimer groaned and placed his head in his hand. Apparently, what she had just said annoyed him, “this dungeon is crawling with dark and steel types, kid. For an espeon like you and a lycanroc like her, that means bad news for both of you.”
Twilight still looked confused. He sighed, “you really are a new blood, aren’t you?” He stopped and turned back to look at them. He pointed at Twilight, “you are a psychic type. That means you're weak to dark type moves. ” He then pointed at Luna, “you are a rock type. Which means your weak to steel type moves.”
They both looked as if they were contemplating what he said, “moves..?” Luna mumbled audibly.
Mortimer shook his head in irritation, “I don’t have time for this.” He turned to leave only to notice the two other pokemon were still following him. He turned and waved his bone at them, “I’m not interested in being your babysitter, so leave me alone. Find your own way out of this place.”
“And what type of creature are you?” Twilight asked, ignoring Mortimer’s previous command. She sounded legitimately interested in learning more from the experienced forager. He shook his head again and decided to keep moving the direction he was heading. He allowed them to follow despite the growing dislike he was gaining for his newest traveling companions.
“She asked you a question, Mister Mortimer.” Luna reminded Mortimer of Twilight’s question, which he hadn’t forgotten in the last minute since she asked. Her voice had a slight threatening tone to it. Like the skull faced forager himself, she was getting rather annoyed with her newest companion's attitude.
Mortimer sighed, “I am a Marowak. I am a dual type pokemon, the types being fire and ghost. My ghost side is very vulnerable to dark type moves, but thankfully my fire side allows me to tank the damage better than most. Which brings me back to my previous question, “what are you two doing in here even despite you not having suitable protection from your weaknesses?”
Twilight looked at Luna to silently ask if she should tell Mortimer the whole story. She nodded, but a firmness present in her eyes told Twilight to avoid telling him what creatures they actually were. The younger princess thought this was wise. If she told him that they were ponies rather than pokemon, he’d likely call them crazy and be less inclined to help them.
“We aren’t certain.” Twilight replied, “the last thing we remember, we were enjoying a party with our friends in a different forest then this. We blacked out somehow, and the next thing we knew, we were waking up here.”
“Hmm…” Mortimer paused and stood motionless in front of them. He looked back at them, and the girls could have swore they saw the briefest look of sympathy spread across his face before disappearing just as quickly, “so you were kidnapped.” He stated, finally giving a name to their situation, “and you two have absolutely no memory of what happened during your abduction?”
Luna and Twilight shook their heads, “none in the slightest.” Luna replied.
“Hmm…” Mortimer closed his eyes and began to ruminate on the information given to him. He started walking again, silently urging the two ex-mares to follow him, “you can continue to follow me if you wish. I was heading to this dungeon’s exit anyways before we crossed paths. From there I can lead you to my village. The pokemon there will likely be able to help you find your way back home.”
Luna and Twilight shot uncertain glances at each other. Luna mumbled under their breath, “I believe that is much less likely than you think.”
The three pokemon continued to follow the path until they came across a large open clearing sitting right before the exit to the next section of the dungeon. The two female pokemon let out a sigh of relief as thanked their lucky stars that the latest leg of their journey was finally over. And with zero confrontations to boot.
The grass around the clearing began to rustle and three new pokemon stepped out in front of the exit. One was a tall bipedal creature with a round, red and black head that resembled a war helmet topped with a golden, double-headed axe blade. Its shoulders projected out slightly over its arms and its hands resembled metallic gloves with pointed blades sticking out of the tops of its forearms. Two rounded, crescent shaped blades encircled its torso, creating the impression of a ribcage.
The two others were bipedal beetle-like creatures with similar rounded heads and a silvery blade growing from the base of their foreheads. Four steel spikes protruded from their torsos, two on each side connected by steel ribs. Their arms, that ended with knife-like blades, were pointed at the trio with malicious intent.
Mortimer crouched down and got into a defensive stance, “get ready. These guys have the type advantage.”
Luna and Twilight mimicked his stance, “which are they?” Luna asked, “steel or dark type?”
Mortimer grimaced, “remember when I said I was a dual type, fire and ghost?” Luna and Twilight nodded, “these guys are the same. But unfortunately for us… they’re both steel and dark type.”
The bisharp charged at Mortimer while his two pawniard followers rushed Twilight and Luna.
Mortimer jumped to the side as the bisharp swung its bladed forearm down where he once stood. The marowak noticed a writhing mass of dark energy was surrounding his enemy’s arm. He recognized the move as Night Slash, a dark type attack.
He distanced himself from the bisharp while it was busy pulling its arm from the ground.
"Despite having gone rampant, this pokemon is still aware of type advantages." Mortimer thought.
He furrowed his brows and tightened his grip around the bone club in his hand. "Rampagers don’t normally think this strategically. So this is either a coincidence, or..." The bisharp pulled its arm free and turned to glare at Mortimer. It leveled its arm with where he now stood, dark energy flowing around its forearm a second time, "...these pokemon haven’t been rampant for long."
The knife at the end of the pawniard’s arm became wrapped in the dark energy as it tried to pierce Twilight through the chest. She jumped back, narrowly avoiding the attack, and soon found herself running for her life as the steel and dark type tried to chase her down. “Mister Mortimer! What type of move is this one using?! Is it a steel type move or dark type move?! If I get hit with it will it hurt more then if I got hit by a normal attack?!”
The bisharp brought its forearm down again, only for Mortimer to block its swing with his club. The two soon found themselves stuck in a power struggle. “I’m a little busy here, kid!” The end of Mortimer’s bone club suddenly ignited, surprising the bisharp. Mortimer then blew onto the flame sending a wide stream of fire straight into the bisharp’s face.
As his enemy recoiled in pain, the marowak turned to look at Twilight. “But if you really need some advice, take this to heart…” he ran up to his opponent and swung his bone club upwards, striking the bisharp in the chin as it clutched its face through the flames. The rampager was stunned and was sent flying through the air before landing on its back. “...If they're trying to hit you, DON’T LET THEM!”
Luna wasn’t having much better luck against her opponent. The pawniard’s blades were glowing a bright white as it tried to use Metal Claw to stab her in any body part it could reach. The lunar princess found herself unable to do much more than dodge with how fast and seamless the pokemon’s attacks worked into each other.
Mortimer lifted his bone and threw it at the pawniard attacking Twilight. The bone struck the pawniard in the head sending it to the ground. Twilight soon ran to Mortimer’s side in order to escape her attacker. Luna briefly glanced over at the two, before directing her focus back towards her own opponent. “I could use some help as well, Mister Mortimer!”
The pawniard that had been attacking Twilight slowly began to pick itself up, but was quickly knocked to the ground again when the bone club returned and whacked it in the back of the head. Mortimer caught his bone club without issue and sighed. He turned and tossed it at the other pawniard. Luna’s opponent fell almost as quickly as the first.
Luna soon rejoined Mortimer and Twilight. With their enemies dazed, the marowak saw the opportunity to regroup and strategize without facing too much opposition. Once they backed a fair distance away from their enemies, Mortimer garnered the girls attention for a quick discussion. “By my guess, we have about half a minute before those pokemon start attacking again. We should use this time to come up with a strategy to get past them or we’ll be forced to continue fighting them at a disadvantage.”
Twilight and Luna nodded in agreement. “What kind of a plan did you have in mind?” Twilight asked.
“I might have an idea for an attack strategy, but first I need to know what you two are capable of.” He furrowed his brows at the two female pokemon. “From what we’ve seen so far, I think it’s safe to say that that bisharp and those pawniards all know both dark and steel type attacks. That gives them the edge offensively. Thankfully, I know Flamethrower and Bonemerang, which are both doubly effective against all three of them. On my own, I should be able to return attacks that are as damaging as the ones they deal out.”
He glanced between Luna and Twilight to make certain they were following. He then briefly moved his eyes towards their downed enemies. The bisharp and pawniards were slowly starting to rise to their feet. Mortimer shot his gaze back towards the princesses. “Quickly, do you two know any defensive moves that could lower their damage or any offensive moves that might be effective against them?”
Twilight and Luna looked at each other in confusion. “Defensive moves..?” Twilight asked him quizzically.
The marowak was growing impatient. “We’re running out of time. If you honestly want me to come up with a strategy, you need to tell me what moves you know now!”
Twilight scooted back upon hearing the sudden urgency in his voice. She looked down at her paws and reflexively began revealing and retracting her claws anxiously. She looked back up at Mortimer and gave him the best answer she could think of. “Scratch?”
Without thinking, Luna ran her tongue over her teeth and suddenly took notice of their large size and sharpness. Another answer quickly popped into her head. “Bite.” She added.
Mortimer looked at both of them aghast. “What? You’ve got to be kidding me?!”
“PAAAAWNIARD!” One of the pawniards came rushing at the three and leapt at them with his head extended forwards. A white aura was surrounding the pokemon as it flew. Mortimer recognized it as the move Iron Head.
Without a second thought, Mortimer leap onto Twilight and Luna, knocking them both to the ground just as the pawniard came soaring over their bodies.
The pawniard crashed and bounced off the ground behind them, leaving a small, but noticeable, crater where it landed. It fell back onto its feet and slid across the ground before turning back around to face them. The second pawniard and the bisharp were slowly advancing on their other side. Mortimer growled as he and the princesses got back to their feet. They were surrounded.
Mortimer rushed over to face the bisharp and pawniard while Luna focused on the pawniard encroaching upon their opposite side. Twilight, meanwhile, was left in the center, unable to decide which pokemon required her help more. The bisharp brought its hands together, creating a sphere of black rings in between its palms. It then pushed its arms outwards, firing its move, Dark Pulse, as the ball of black rings unraveled into a beam that streaked towards the trio.
Mortimer noticed the move was heading straight for Twilight. He could see that she was currently lost in her own thoughts, so she likely wouldn’t see the move until it was too late. He saw the Dark Pulse was drawing closer. A groan of annoyance passed his lips, “aie-yahh,” and he jumped in front of the confused espeon before she could get hit.
Twilight eyes widened as she watched Mortimer get blasted and launched backwards over her head and onto the ground several feet away.
The pawniard facing Luna lunged at her with another Iron Head, but missed her just barely after she leaned out of the way. Snapping back to her full height, Luna quickly turned on her feet and grabbed the pawniard by its legs and began to twirl it like she did the Raticate she fought before. She let him go much quicker than her previous opponent however, and sent him flying at the bisharp and second pawniard, leaving the three stuck in a pile of tangled limbs after they collided.
She soon noticed Twilight and Mortimer were missing and quickly shot her gaze around the clearing to find them. She caught sight of Twilight leaning over a downed Mortimer several feet away and ran to their position without hesitation.
“I am so sorry! Please tell me you're okay?!” Twilight pleaded as Mortimer got back to his feet with the help of his bone.
“I’m fine. Focus on the fight.” They turned their eyes back towards their opponents, only to notice the bisharp and pawniards were charging at them. All three of the pokemons’ blades were surrounded by dark energy, and as they jumped in tandem, they raised them to strike.
The rampagers aimed their blades at the trio. All three of them were ready to hack the princesses and forager apart with Night Slash the moment they landed. Mortimer raised his club above his head, ready to block their strikes again like he did with the bisharp before. Luna likewise got in a battle stance and was ready to retaliate the moment their enemies landed. Twilight, however, could only close her eyes and lowered her head to ground in fright. She desperately wished she could use her magic in this world to protect herself and the others.
She waited for the inevitable, expecting to feel the unknown sensation of dark energy as it sliced her body into pieces. But it never came.
Twilight opened her eyes in confusion and was surprised to find that the bisharp and pawniards were being held in midair by a pink aura. One she immediately recognized as her aura. Luna and Mortimer looked equally surprised.
Twilight blinked in confusion. “Umm… Luna, I think I might still have access to my magic?”
Mortimer looked at her dumbstruck. “It’s one of your moves! Psychic! Now use it to get rid of them!”
Twilight, once again, was startled by the sudden urgency present in Mortimer’s voice. Thankfully however, she was more than familiar with using telekinesis in her old body, so tossing the rampant pokemon aside was child’s play.
The bisharp and pawniards were sent flying out of the clearing and into the forest surrounding them. Mortimer turned his head towards the now unobstructed exit in front of them. “Run!” He commanded.
Twilight and Luna didn’t argue and all three were soon bolting towards the exit with the rage-filled cries of the rampant pokemon growing ever closer behind them.
Mortimer entered the exit first, followed shortly after by Luna. Twilight briefly hesitated to enter when a sudden sound caught her attention. She turned around and saw that the bisharp had chopped its way through the tall grass that hid it from the clearing. Its eyes were now a bright crimson red, and if Twilight didn’t know better, she could have sworn she saw steam rising off the rampager’s body.
“BIIIIIIISHAAARRP!” The loudest cry Twilight had ever heard in this world rung in her ears, and she found herself suddenly frozen in place by fear. The bisharp noticed her and barreled towards her with its arms outstretched. Its aggressive movement and body language made it seem like killing her was its only reason for living. Twilight felt a sudden tenseness in her muscles, almost as if her body was directly telling her to run. She heeded it, and ran as fast she could through the exit before the bisharp could even reach halfway across the clearing.
Trail to Payapa Village
Twilight came barreling out of the dungeon’s entrance like a full-powered Tirek was on her tail. Her eyes were closed out of fear, so she ended up crashing into the first pokemon that got in her way. She immediately wrapped her front legs around the pokemon’s neck like she had just found a life preserver in the middle of the ocean.
She whimpered into the pokemon’s shoulder, much to their surprise. “Whoa! Hey! Calm down there, kid. It’s okay. You're okay.” A hesitant hand began to pat her on the back in an attempt to calm her down.
Twilight opened her eyes in confusion. The pokemon speaking to her didn’t sound at all like Princess Luna, and the hand on her back didn’t match what she expected Luna’s new claws to feel like. She pushed herself back so could stand a full leg’s length away from the creature. Her eyes soon widened when she realized she had been hugging Mortimer instead of the princess.
She distanced herself further from the marowak and fell back onto her feet. She turned away from him and sat on her haunches, a heavy blush of embarrassment slowly forming on her face. She turned her head to the side so she could speak to him. “I’m sorry. I thought you were…”
Twilight’s mind immediately rushed back to the reason for why she was running. A fearful expression spread across her face and she turned to tell Mortimer what she had seen in the dungeon.
“We need to get out of here now!” She exclaimed. “The biggest of those knife beetle things was heading straight for me just before I entered the tunnel and he had this horrible angry look on his face like nothing I’ve ever seen.” She looked back and noticed the dungeon entrance wasn’t being covered up by rapidly growing vegetation like the tunnels in the previous sections of the dungeon did. “He could come out of that tunnel any second now! We need to get moving!”
Twilight was beginning to hyperventilate, forcing Luna to rush over and attempt to calm her down a second time. The lunar princess began to rub Twilight’s shoulders in an attempt to relax her. Mortimer, meanwhile, gestured his hands towards the ground to tell her it was okay and that she needed to breathe.
“Like I said, kid, it’s okay. Everything is fine. That bisharp couldn’t follow us even if it wanted to. That isn’t how mystery dungeons work.”
Twilight’s breathing began to settle as she looked up at him. “Mystery dungeons? What do you mean? What’s a mystery dungeon?”
Mortimer closed his eyes and sighed. He was thankful that Twilight was able to calm down so quickly, but was also annoyed by her extreme lack of common knowledge. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right about these two. They were too dense for pokemon their age.
Mortimer decided to push these thoughts aside for the moment as he began to explain. “That dense jungle we were just in, that was a mystery dungeon.” He motioned towards the dungeon entrance to give more emphasis to his explanation. “They’re unchartable mazes that are scattered throughout the world. They’re almost guaranteed to get you lost because they’re layout is never the same as the last time you entered them.”
Twilight and Luna stared at him like they were hearing one of Starswirl’s stories around the campfire again. Twilight’s eyes were wide and awestruck. “How is that possible?”
Mortimer only shook his head. “Not sure. No pokemon has ever been able to solve that question, even despite a thousand years of research.”
Twilight and Luna felt their jaws drop. As a pony who had lived more than a thousand years and a pony who had read more than a thousand years of research in her lifetime, the very thought of an entire species being unable to solve one question in that amount of time flummoxed both princesses to no end.
Mortimer must have noticed this, because he immediately began raffling off theories to help explain away their confusion. “Some say the mystery dungeons are creations of Palkia, the titan of space, and that they are his leftover experiments from when he walked this plane of existence.” Twilight and Luna were hanging on every word. “And others even suggest that the mystery dungeons are living creatures in and of themselves. They constantly change their appearance so pokemon will get lost in them and eventually starve when they run out of supplies. The dungeons will then eat what’s left of them, depending on if the rampant pokemon don’t get to them first.”
A shiver ran down Twilight's spine. She felt like she was being told a ghost story, and judging by Mortimer’s tone of voice, she couldn’t tell if he was being fictitious or not.
Luna, likewise, felt a tad unnerved, but due to years of experience being a monarch to her kingdom, she found herself better able to hide these feelings then her companion. She didn’t want to appear weak in front of Twilight, especially now since they were trapped in a world neither of them recognized and with absolutely no idea of how to get home.
Luna eyed Mortimer up and down. Their guide was also a subject of concern.
He hadn’t yet shown any signs of being a threat to them, and had even taken a leading role in fighting on their behalf, to the point of even taking a hit for Twilight. She didn’t distrust him at this juncture, and in fact was starting to enjoy his company. He was a really good storyteller.
Luna smiled, but a thought soon crossed her mind that made that smile fade away. She stared at Mortimer curiously. “Though I appreciate your explanation, that still doesn’t answer the question of why that bisharp can’t follow us out here?”
Mortimer looked at Luna and scratched the back of his head as if he had lost his place in the story. “I forgot that part didn’t I?” The girls thought they almost heard a slight chuckle. “No more than three pokemon can enter an exit tunnel without the destination on the other end changing. Once a fourth pokemon enters a tunnel anytime after the third, they will immediately be sent to a new location in the dungeon that’s different then one the previous three went to.”
Luna raised an eyebrow. “How’s that?”
Mortimer shook his head. “It’s another one of those unexplained phenomena. It’s best not to think too much about it. All you really need to know is this: as long as you keep finding exits, you’ll eventually find your way out of a dungeon. Just make sure you’re carrying enough supplies with you or you're liable to end up going hungry, or worse… as another pokemon’s meal.”
That shutter from before returned and this time both Twilight and Luna felt it.
Mortimer looked to the sky and noticed some of the stars were still twinkling up above, even despite the looming light of sunrise slowly fading them out. The forest outside the dungeon was far less dense than the areas that preceded it. Though still clearly a forest, the trees and vegetation were spaced much farther apart and allowed the travelers a much better view of the sky above thanks to the holes present in the canopy. The three were also standing on a clearly civilian built trail, created by smashing a ton of gravel into the soil in order to form an almost road-like surface that led into the distance and swerved to the right.
Mortimer grumbled to himself; “Tsa!(1) It can’t be that late in the morning already.” Judging by the position of the sun, he assumed that the time was roughly around four in the morning. He looked down the trail and was thankful to see that no other pokemon were heading their way. He looked back at his two fellow travelers. Even if they were currently safe, he didn’t want to take any chances.
Mortimer called out to Twilight and Luna, who seemed to have broken off into their own conversation. He assumed they were likely discussing theories about how they ended up in the dungeon in the first place.
“We need to get going.” Mortimer exclaimed. It almost sounded like he was giving them an order.
Twilight and Luna turned and stared at him in confusion. “But you said we weren’t in danger. You said that that bisharp wouldn’t be able to get to us.” Twilight stated.
Mortimer shook his head. “We aren’t.” He confirmed. “But even still, I’d rather not get caught for trespassing if we can avoid it.”
“Trespassing?!” Twilight and Luna shouted in surprise. Mortimer immediately rushed over and clonked them both on the head with his bone.
“Quite!” He said, barely over a whisper. “Do you want the next guards stationed here to hear you?!”
Twilight and Luna rubbed their now aching noggins. “Sorry, you’ll have to forgive us. We have this problem where we tend to act shocked when someone tells us that we’re breaking the law without first having the prior knowledge.”
Mortimer bonked Luna a second time on the noggin. “OW! What was that for?!”
“Sorry, you’ll have to forgive me. I too have a problem, but it only occurs when someone gives me sass. It makes me feel like I have to reciprocate, by kicking their-”
Twilight immediately got between the two.
“Okay! So clearly everyone’s feeling a little bit upset right now.” Twilight lifted her front paws and gently placed one on both Luna and Mortimer’s chests. “But maybe if we just step back from each other…” Twilight began to push against them, but found herself unable to move them from where they currently stood. She furrowed her brows and began to put all of her strength into the action. “And take a deep breath!” Her face grew flushed and sweaty and her voice became strained due to the exertion. “We can solve this problem with our words, rather than resorting to-” both Mortimer and Luna suddenly took a step backwards, causing Twilight to lose her balance and fall forwards. “FIGHTING?!”
Twilight closed her eyes and readied herself for when she would hit the gravel, but oddly found herself stopping half way before even reaching the ground. She opened eyes and noticed she was leaning so far forwards that she was almost parallel with the trail. Luna and Mortimer’s extended hands were the only things keeping her aloft. Only the tips of her toes were left to touch the ground, almost as if she were being dipped during a dance.
Luna and Mortimer lifted Twilight and gently placed her back down on her haunches, and once they were certain she wouldn’t fall over again, they turned to each other and nodded.
“Nice catch.” Luna compliment.
“Same to you.” Mortimer replied.
They both turned back to Twilight. “You make an excellent point, kid. Fighting will get us nowhere right now.” Luna nodded in agreement with Mortimer’s statement.
Twilight smiled. She was glad they had actually been listening to her rather than thinking of ways to combat each other. The thought of them both being able to multitask and perform both actions simultaneously briefly crossed Twilight’s mind, but she decided to ignore this thought for now out of both priority for their current situation and fear of what a battle between the two might result in.
“So what’s our plan then?” Twilight asked. Both she and Luna turned to Mortimer, seeing as he was one most familiar with their current location.
Mortimer turned away from the dungeon entrance and stared at the curve the trail made in the distance. The corner of his mouth turned upwards contemplatively. “We can’t head down the trail normally. The rangers who guard this dungeon might already be heading this way. We’ll need to take a more secure route.”
To Twilight and Luna’s confusion, Mortimer walked over towards a long line of bushes traveling down the left side of the trail. He pushed the branches of one of the bushes aside revealing a worn dirt path underneath.
Mortimer looked back at them. “I used this makeshift path before to avoid the rangers. To my knowledge, they haven’t discovered it yet, so it should serve our purposes nicely.”
Twilight trotted over and examined the path. She grimaced when she noticed how close the bush branches were to the ground. She looked back up at Mortimer. “It seems a little narrow, doesn’t it? Are you sure there’s nowhere else we could go to avoid the guards?”
Mortimer cocked a brow at her. “Why’s that matter? You’re not claustrophobic, are you?” He leaned over Twilight and looked her straight in the eyes. “Or is the little princess just afraid of getting her glossy coat dirty?” This was the first time Twilight had ever heard the title “princess” being used as an insult. It felt odd and extremely demeaning, but at the same time, it filled her with the urge to prove Mortimer wrong and show him that “princess” was a title meant to be respected rather than jeered at.
Without another word, Twilight furrowed her brows and began crawling under the branches Mortimer was holding aside. Luna walked up behind her as Twilight shimmied down the hidden trail, like a private crawling under a field of wires in boot camp.
Mortimer stopped her before she could enter. “I’ll go next.” He explained. “You two aren’t familiar with this area, so it’s better if you both stay close to me, just in case I need to inform either of you of something.”
Luna nodded in agreement, allowing Mortimer to follow after Twilight once she took a firm hold of the branches. As soon as he had moved further down the hidden path, Luna then crawled in after them, allowing the branches to once again conceal the secret trail and any evidence that they had been in front of the dungeon in the first place.
Capricious Canopies, Section Unknown
Back in the mystery dungeon, the beheeyems’ screams of agony could be heard echoing through the trees of the entire forest. The three of them were currently being pressed into the ground as their leader fired a massive dark beam at them from his chest.
Their leader—a powerful pokemon they had not yet even learned the name of—was breathing heavily. He had been punishing them with Night Shade for several minutes now, and his continuous use of the attack was starting to sap his energy. The beam of energy soon faded, allowing the pokemon to double over and catch his breath as the beheeyem twitched and writhed in the craters they had made in the dirt.
Behind their attacker, an orbeetle was floating. His arms were folded as he watched his leader’s latest display of aggression. “Forgive me for questioning your methods, sir, bzzzrt, but do you really think wasting all your energy punishing these hollow-skulled simpletons is a wise use of our time?”
The leader turned and glared at the orbeetle. The psychic and bug type unfolded his arms and placed them behind his back in response. A smirk spread across his face and a sarcastic tone accompanied his voice as he continued to speak. “Don’t get me wrong, I would have no qualms with seeing you slain by whatever beastly pokemon happens to wander by here in this dungeon, but I know for a fact the master happens to favor you, bzzzrt. I’d hate to have to explain to them how you died so pitifully simply because you were exhausted.”
The leader floated towards the orbeetle and leaned over him like a predator about to strike at wounded prey. Rays of light glistened off his metallic skin as the sun rose slightly higher in the east. Despite his bravado seconds earlier, the orbeetle couldn’t help but tremble slightly in his presence.
“Your concern is well noted, Oswell.” The leader’s voice was threatening, clearly expressing his knowledge of the orbeetle’s true intentions. “But you can rest assured, the master won’t have to worry about me dying in any way that’s… pitiful.” He spoke venomously and put as much emphasis as he could on the final word to show Oswell the purest form of his displeasure. He slapped his hand on the top of Oswell’s head and used his fingers to grip him and hold him in place. “Sniveling bugs like you however…”
The leader lifted his other hand and brought it below Oswell’s chin. He then started to form a multicolored orb of energy in the center of his palm. “...I imagine, can perish no other way.”
The sound of thick timber snapping, as if an entire tree were being uprooted and pushed over, soon pulled the two pokemons’ attention away from the leader’s threat. They turned around to see that their assumptions were indeed correct, for a massive tree had been toppled over behind them with even more massive aggron stomping over it to reach them.
The leader released Oswell and turned to face the new pokemon. The aggron was roaring at him, clearly showing its rampant state of mind. The leader quickly surmised that it must have been drawn out by the beheeyems’ screaming. Whether this meant it saw them as a potential meal or as intruders in its territory, the leader was not certain, but ultimately it really did not matter that much to him. The aggron would not need to worry about food or territory very soon.
The beheeyem slowly pulled themselves out of their holes, only to notice the aggressive pokemon standing not but a few feet away from them when they regained full faculties. They each screamed an additional time before rushing over to hide behind their leader alongside Oswell. The leader could only shake his head in disappointment after seeing their reaction to the rampant aggron.
He raised his head to address his opponent, only to be surprised when he noticed the armored giant had completely vanished. He looked about the clearing they stood in for any sign of the aggron. It completely baffled him that a creature so large and heavy could vanish so quickly.
His search eventually drew his eyes towards his cowering followers. His brow raised in confusion when he noticed their eyes had dilated in terror and that they were looking towards the sky. Realization soon struck him, and he immediately turned his gaze upwards. The aggron was falling towards them like a meteor, a silver aura surrounding him like an earthbound object in the middle of reentry.
The leader furrowed his brows. He wasn’t impressed.
Oswell and the beheeyem immediately split from under the aggron’s shadow, leaving only their leader to face the brunt of the rampant pokemon’s Heavy Slam. Calmly, the leader raised the multicolored orb he had kept tucked in his palm and pointed it at the descending aggron.
“AAAAGGROOONNN!” The beast roared as if proclaiming a battle cry, completely oblivious to the attack the leader had in store. The orb soon fired and flew like a bullet straight into the aggron’s chest. The titanic pokemon never hit the ground after that. No remains were even left to prove it had come to attack them in the first place.
Oswell and the three beheeyem stared at the sky in a mixture of shock, awe, and complete undiluted terror. When they looked back towards their leader they were frightened back a step when they noticed he was floating towards them. Almost automatically, they each flew into line and stood at attention. Their leader stopped in front of their assembly and folded his arms behind his back. A vague look of approval was present on his face as he leaned forward in front of Oswell.
“One would think this demonstration would teach you to keep your sarcastic comments to yourself, but I think we both know you do not possess that level of mental capacity.” The leader raised back to his full height and flew in front of the trio beheeyem. Only when he was certain the leader was out of earshot did Oswell growl in frustration.
The leader observed the beheeyem. They each were trembling slightly, as if expecting they were going to be punished again. He thought this was an appropriate reaction. After all, he would have enjoyed getting to torture them for at least a few minutes longer. But, as much as he hated to admit it, Oswell was right. He had wasted enough time and they needed to get back to the task at hand.
The leader brought his hand up and snapped his fingers. The sound was unorthodoxly loud, so much so that it could be heard even in the treetops above. A minior, one still covered in its protective stone coating, flew down from the canopy to float right next to the leader’s head.
The leader glared at the beheeyem. “I assume by now you all are feeling tired, worn, and hungry?” The beheeyem were hesitant, but they nodded in response to his question. They didn’t want to know if lying would earn them anymore punishment.
“I see...” the leader turned and headed for the exit tunnel that led out of this section of the dungeon. “I, the minior, and Oswell will be making our leave then. If you manage to find your way out of this dungeon, then make your way back to the stronghold. I will deem you worth keeping around if you manage to survive.” Oswell and the Minior followed after him as he neared the tunnel’s entrance. “Try not to disappoint me this time.”
The beheeyem stood at attention until their leader’s crimson backside vanished into the darkness that was the exit tunnel.
They were all alone now. Trapped in a maze filled with rampant pokemon that possessed one of their weaknesses. They were lost, hungry, and severely weakened. Any other pokemon stuck in this situation would die before even reaching the next section’s exit. They on the other hand would make it out by noon at latest. After all, they were determined and dedicated to their master’s cause, and they weren’t about to let their newly appointed leader deprive them of the honor of serving their master.
Trail to Payapa Village
It had only been fifteen minutes since they started their trek down the secret path adjacent to the public trail and already Twilight’s stomach was hurting. The ground beneath her was course and sandy, and she felt like it was getting all over her as it matted up her fur.
It was clear to see that the princess of friendship was far from enjoying herself, and to make matters worse, she was beginning to think that taking this path was unnecessary in the long run.
The guards Mortimer had warned them about had yet to pass by on the public trail, and Twilight was slowly growing more certain that they weren’t going to be coming at all. Her brows furrowed and a thought, which quickly turned into a self-made promise, entered her head. That thought was that she was going to seriously chew out Mortimer if they managed to reach the end of the trail without seeing any other pokemon.
The sounds of two pairs of feet heading in their direction soon removed this thought from her head however.
Twilight suddenly froze. She had been so confident that they were going to finish this painful trek unmolested, that she completely ruled out any chance that the marowak behind her could have been right. The shock caused by the mere existence of the guards had left her in a near instant catatonic state, almost as if they had just spotted her and used a paralysis spell to keep her from running away.
Mortimer stopped behind the espeon, forcing Luna to do the same or risk ramming her nose into the balls of his feet. Both the forager and princess took notice of the foot falls that were gradually growing in volume. Mortimer turned his head and looked back at Luna before silently tipping it to the side towards the branches on their right. Luna kept silent, but nodded her head to show she understood what the marowak was telling her.
Mortimer slowly turned his gaze back towards Twilight and gently poked her in the right side of her rump to get her attention. “EEK!” The marowak was quick to shush her.
Twilight looked over her shoulder to see Mortimer pointing towards the branches on her right side. Wordlessly, he then moved his club over to lift the branches, allowing them all to see out onto the public trail without obstruction.
The two guards’ feet soon came into view. One pair was yellow with two white talons sticking out the front of each foot and one talon sticking out the back. The other pair looked more like stumps then feet, but possessed two similar white toes on the front of each foot. They passed the trio’s hiding place within a few seconds, but just to make sure they wouldn’t be spotted, Twilight, Mortimer, and Luna remained silent and motionless until they were certain the guards were out of eyeshot.
Another full minute passed, and Mortimer soon took the chance and crawled out from under the branches he was holding aloft. He stood and glanced both up and down the trail. He couldn’t see anymore pokemon either coming or going in their direction, so he had to assume that the coast was clear. He leaned over and looked into the hole that led into the underbrush. He motioned to the girls with his hand to tell them it was okay for them to come out. He continued to hold the branches above them as Twilight and Luna crawled out into the open space.
Twilight and Luna quickly got back to their feet as Mortimer turned again to look down the path where the guards had been heading. Without thinking, he soon began to speak to himself out loud. “The Ranger Council must be rotating their guards around. I don’t remember ever seeing an electabuzz or exeggutor guarding this dungeon. It's got to be a foreign exeggutor too, because if it were native one, we would have seen it coming from a mile away.”
Twilight hissed as she moved up and onto her haunches. She felt slightly relieved to finally get off her sore stomach, but the rugburns she received from the sandy soil were still making themselves known. Experimentally, Twilight lifted her paw and brought to her stomach to see how tender her underbelly had become. She almost immediately shrieked in agony upon making contact with her rubbed raw flesh.
Mortimer and Luna noticed her sudden yelp and immediately surrounded her like she was a downed soldier stuck in the middle of a battlefield.
Luna placed her paws on Twilight’s shoulders as Mortimer kneeled down to inspect her injuries. Luna looked Twilight in the eyes with an almost motherly level of concern. “Are you okay, Princess Twilight?” She began to look her over as if searching for injuries other than the ones that were already known. “You didn’t cut yourself or get pierced with a stick or stone while we were down there, did you?”
Twilight chuckled slightly, now feeling somewhat embarrassed due to all the attention she was receiving. “It’s okay, Princess Luna. I’m fine. I just got scuffed up a little bit while we were under the bushes. It’s really nothing you need to worry about.”
Mortimer stood back up and nodded his head. He turned to Luna to confirm Twilight’s diagnosis. “She’s right. At worst, the rough ground has removed only the first few layers of skin from her underside, and that isn’t enough to even cause bleeding.” He folded his arms and closed his eyes as he tilted his head slightly more towards the ground. He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before he decided to continue speaking. “She’ll be dealing with some irritation, but it shouldn’t be anything that would keep from performing normal activities.” He turned his head to the right toward where he knew the exit to the forest would be. “I have some homemade salve I use to treat minor wounds like this, but unfortunately, I left it at home today. We’ll need to stop there first as soon as we reach my village if we want the skin to heal back properly.”
Luna grimaced and glanced down at her own stomach. She had been in the same position as Twilight and Mortimer, and though she was not being as vocal about it, she too was feeling the sting of the sandy soil on her underside. She didn’t want to complain for fear of looking weak in front of them, but she wouldn’t have minded getting access to that salve as well as soon as they reached Mortimer’s house. She immediately began thinking of plausible excuses for why she would take the salve without actually having the need to use it.
Mortimer began leading the girls the rest of the way towards the exit. Silence soon fell over the forest trail once again. All three pokemon were unable to come up with any appropriate topics of conversation to spring on the others at this time.
Several minutes passed, and the sunlight-bathed entrance into the world outside the forest soon came into view. They would need to cross the grove that separated the village from the forest next, Mortimer recalled. The trek would probably take them another ten minutes at least, which at that point would make the silence between them unbearable.
The marowak began to rack his brain for any topics of discussion he could likely have with the two females. He didn’t want to risk continuing their trip with them awkwardly staring at the back of his head the entire time. He visualized the memories he had with the girls so far to see if he could glean any possible interests they had based on the things they’ve said. He contemplated their words for another minute and soon began to notice a few things clicking together based on what they said.
He glanced over his shoulder and addressed the girls. “Can I ask you two a question?”
Twilight gave him a friendly smile and nodded. “Of course, what is it you want to know?”
“What are you?” He asked unabashedly. “What are you really?”
Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion. “I… I’m sorry? I don’t think I understand what you’re asking us.”
Mortimer turned around, an angry expression suddenly appearing on his face. “Don’t play dumb.” He stated as if giving a threat. “I’ve listened to you speak and I’ve seen how you act, and I refuse to believe either of you are this dim!”
Both princesses were taken aback by Mortimer’s statement. Both their expressions quickly turned to one of offense. Luna placed her curled fists on her hips. “Who in the Tartarus do you think you are?! You can’t speak to us that way!”
“There, that…” Mortimer exclaimed, pointing his bone at them as if accusing them in court. “You two have been using words and phrases that don’t make sense. Tartarus? What in the name of my sister? One top of that, you know absolutely nothing about battle or pokemon, not even the word pokemon. You two are evolved pokemon, this information is taunt to young mons when they are still in their first stages of life.” His brows furrowed even further downwards. “And you two are far too cognizant to be suffering from amnesia.”
The end of Mortimer’s club soon ignited like it did before, scaring Twilight backwards and urging Luna forwards in order to protect her. “I heard of these kinds of jumps where shapeshifting pokemon like dittos or zorua pretend to be other pokemon and steal from unexpecting travelers after gaining their sympathy. I could accuse you two of doing this, but for some reason I feel there is more to this story. Tell me who you are and your intentions, and maybe I won’t leave you beaten on the side of the road for the guards to find.”
Luna stepped forwards to challenge him, but Twilight was quick to pull her back. The elder princess turned to look at her friend and soon found her aggression fading when she saw Twilight’s pleading look. She clearly didn’t want any more fighting to occur between them and Mortimer, and now that the night princess had a clearer mind to think on the matter, she didn’t want that either. Violence was not going to calm Mortimer down and she didn’t favor her chances of winning a fight with him with her now possessing a body she barely understood how to use. This left her with only one other option.
Luna turned to address Mortimer with Twilight quickly stepping up to sit beside her. The lunar princess sighed. “Okay Mortimer, you’ve got us. We aren’t pokemon. We aren’t even close. But fair warning, what we truly are might surprise you. This may sound crazy, but we’ll tell you everything…”
Mortimer scowled as he strode out of the forest, Twilight scuttling like mad to keep up with him.
“Mortimer! Wait!” She cried out to him, “you can’t just leave us behind!”
Much to her surprise, he did as she requested and turned back to her with a deadpan look. Twilight tensed and closed her eyes as she tried to skid herself to a halt. She thought for certain she was going to bowl him over, but when she felt no impact come, she reopened her eyes to find she was sitting almost nose to nose with the pokemon in front of her. She backed away quickly to give him some space.
If he had been shaken by their near collision, Mortimer showed no signs of it. Instead, he responded to her by pointing his bone club towards the distant side of the grove behind him. “My village is in that direction.” He explained, “there you’ll be able to find food and lodging. As for me leading you there per our agreement? That’s been officially dissolved. After hearing that ridiculous story, I’m more inclined to believe you two are rookie thieves. That, or you both desperately need to get your heads checked at the local doctor.”
Luna walked up beside Twilight, “Mortimer, please, I’ve told you the truth. We are not of your world. We can not remember how it transpired, but somehow we were brought here and turned into these forms.” She gestured her paw between Twilight and herself, “why will you not believe us?”
Mortimer’s brow arched at that question, “I think you already have your answer.”
Twilight raised her front paws and waved them back and forth, hoping the gesture would be enough to ease the tension between them and Mortimer, “okay, okay. I will admit our story may sound a little far fetched-”
“Far fetched?” A dry chuckle passed Mortimer's lips upon hearing that, “you two were making up words.” He tapped his bone against his opposite hand as if listing off the problems with their story on his nonexistent fingers. “Tartarus, alicorns, equestria...” he stopped tapping his palm to briefly let what he listed off sink in, “I have never heard any of these words used before in my life. And on top of that you expect me to believe that you come from another world? Who in their right mind do you think would fall for this?” He began to massage his left temple, clearly annoyed. “You both want to keep insisting your story is true? Fine. Then go see Tapu Bulu at the Ranger Station. He’s the chief in charge of all the rangers on this island. As for me? I’m done with this. You two can see yourselves to the village without me. You’ll find no other dangers out here in the payapa grove.” With that explained, Mortimer turned and began walking away.
Luna stood there in disbelief as she watched the marowak make his leave. He was treating them like a joke. She knew their story sounded ridiculous, but that didn’t mean he had to be so close minded about it.
She rose to her full height and marched after Mortimer with determination. Catching up to him quickly, she then placed her paw upon his shoulder in a friendly but stern gesture, “Mortimer, I must insist, see reason. If you but stop and think this over, you’ll see that our story isn’t as implausible as you may have first thought.”
Mortimer shrugged off her paw, “Luna, don’t test me.” He warned. She was surprised to hear him say her real name. So far he had only addressed Twilight by name, and only ever referred to her as “kid”. This told her just how straight he was going to be with her. “Many would consider your actions thus far to be the bumblings of rookie thieves, but you both seem too naïve and kindhearted to be anything of the sort.” While Luna did not appreciate being called naïve, she did smile a little bit at being called kind. He closed his eyes as his expression became more thoughtful. When they reopened he spoke steadfast, “I want to make this clear. I'm not leaving you behind because I think you're bad pokemon. I’m leaving you because I can’t read who you are...and that makes me wary. I don’t trust anyone who isn’t upfront with me, especially when I’m meeting them for the first time.” Resting his bone over his shoulder he begins to walk off again, but far more at ease this time. “I wish you both luck in whatever your endeavors are, but I think it’s best that we split ways for the time being. When you’re ready to tell me the truth, find me in the village. I might be willing to help you out then.”
Luna clenched her jaw in frustration. It irked her greatly that he still refused to trust them. But on a certain level, she could understand where he was coming from. After returning to Celestia’s side, she had learned through many experiences that trust needed to be earned rather than demanded. She could tell through their conversations that Mortimer was a closed off individual. He preferred to keep to himself and didn’t trust others easily. He was also polite, but very blunt, enough so that others would not likely want to speak with him for very long. Yet, despite this, he still possessed a desire to see others safe. He did not have to help them back in the dungeon, yet his first action towards them was to push them out of a dangerous creature’s line of sight. Had he not grown suspicious of them and forced Twilight and herself to reveal their origins, she was certain he may have yet stayed true to their agreement and would have led them all the way to his home.
Luna’s paw wandered down to her stomach where a slight twinge of pain made itself known. She recalled Mortimer’s offer of his homemade salve and knew now that his wariness towards them didn’t mean he was mean-spirited, there was just no trust between them. Asking him for anything more than what he had already given them would have made her appear rude and petty, and she didn’t want Mortimer to have that opinion of her. She agreed that it was best for them to part ways here, and perhaps later mend things, assuming they ever met again.
Unfortunately for them all, Twilight thought differently.
She had dealt with many difficult and stubborn creatures before on her adventures, but Mortimer seemed to be on a whole different level compared to her prior experiences. Right off the bat from their first conversation, Mortimer seemed to have an air about him that suggested he was angry or at least extremely displeased with everything in the world around him. This bitter attitude he held onto suggested that he likely had very few friends. By this logic, Twilight surmised that he would greatly benefit from a few lessons in the magic of friendship.
A cheshire smile spread across Twilight’s muzzle and a confident nod to herself finalized her decision to help. Mortimer was suffering from a friendship problem and she was going to be the one to help him fix it.
Copying what little she knew of Pinkie Pie’s antics, she managed to sneak in front of Mortimer without his or Luna’s notice. The marowak immediately jumped backwards in shock when he realized Twilight had somehow appeared in front of him. He briefly looked back at Luna in confusion before turning back to blink at Twilight in disbelief, “how did you do that?”
Twilight only shook her head, “trust me, I couldn’t explain how if I tried. And I have tried.”
Mortimer’s brows furrowed at that, “another secret, I suppose? Why am I not surprised?” He pushed past her. “Leave me alone and stay out of my way. I am not going to warn you a third time.”
At this point, Twilight was growing desperate and resorted to something reckless, “Mortimer please! You have to understand. We don't know anything about your world. We have no money nor do we even understand how the concept of currency works here. We don’t even know what it’s called!” Mortimer didn’t turn around, but she could tell he was listening. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but at the moment, she felt only by guilting or annoying him into compliance could she ensure he’d stay. “We won’t be able to afford food or shelter in your village.” She emphasized, “you can’t possibly be willing to shoo us away when you know we have absolutely no means of supporting ourselves! No creature in this world or any other could be that heartless!”
Mortimer finally paused and turned to address the younger princess. An exasperated sigh escaped his throat, “I’ve told you already where you can get help. The rangers are the ones who handle missing pokemon cases, not me. So take my advice or leave it. I don’t care which.” His voice was stern and matter-of-fact. He started to walk away from her, only to find Twilight standing in his path again. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer. The marowak snorted at her stubbornness, “I thought I made this clear. LEAVE ME ALONE!”
Twilight folded her forelegs and turned her face upwards as if she were a defiant child, “not until you ask us politely.” She stated.
The momentary silence that followed was so thick one could attempt to swim through it. Mortimer’s brow began to twitch, “excuse me?” His voice was oddly soft when compared to how it was only a moment ago, a foreboding sign of just how angry the marowak was becoming. A small part of Twilight’s mind sparked with growing worry. She was barely able to ignore it even despite it practically screaming at her to run. She suddenly found herself being lifted by the scruff of her chest and brought nose to nose with Mortimer. His voice took on a ghastly tone, “I can hurt you severely, Twilight. I suggest you stop this nonsense. Now.”
Twilight felt a deluge of sweat run down the back of her neck. She was beginning to seriously reconsider her plan to annoy Mortimer into submission. Pinkie Pie had regaled her with how this had worked with Cranky Doodle Donkey. She had hypothesized, given their similar personalities, the same thing would occur for her with Mortimer, but only now after implementing this method did she realize she may have chosen the wrong subject to test its credibility on. It was only thanks to Luna speaking up that she didn’t find out how severe her consequences would be.
“Mortimer, please, let Twilight go. I promise I will ensure that neither she nor I will seek to bother you any further.” Luna said with calm authority.
Mortimer glanced back at her and considered her offer. In the next moment, he dropped Twilight to the ground. “See to it that you keep to your word, Luna. And educate this one so she doesn’t do something like this again. Successful or not, manipulation is dangerous and it can be even more so when coupled with arrogance and stupidity.” He turned around and strode off, but this time the girls did not attempt to follow him.
Once they were sure he was out of earshot, Twilight spoke up again, “t-thanks Princess Luna, I thought for a second he was actually going t-“ Twilight’s words caught in her throat once she saw the expression Luna was giving her, “t-to hit me…”
Luna looked at Twilight with neither joy nor relief. Instead her expression was one of blunt anger and displeasure. It was reminiscent of how Celestia would look at her whenever she abused her magic in the past.
“Twilight, what was that just now?” Luna asked her in a flat tone.
“I-I’m not certain what you mean, Princess Luna.” Twilight stammered. Luna’s expression and tone were far more terrifying than any time Celestia had ever been upset with her.
Luna’s brow cocked at that, “oh?…Is that so? Then let me tell you. You just attempted to force another creature to help us beyond what he was willing to do because he felt he could not trust us. We who are strangers to him and who revealed a story he could not believe. Trust must be earned, Twilight, not demanded. And you recklessly ignored his words to us and kept pushing his patience until you were threatened with being hit. Had I not interceded when I did, you would have received injuries almost as bad as what those crazed pokemon from the dungeon would have inflicted.”
Luna’s words hit Twilight hard, but whether or not they sunk in was difficult for Luna to determine. In the past, she had read many of the reports that had been shared between Twilight and her sister. More often than not these tended to illustrate some mistake Twilight or her friends had made while trying to understand friendship. She already knew the young mare had much growing to do as both an adult and princess, but now she was beginning to suspect that Celestia had been hiding much more about her former student. In particular, the young mare's mental state, if her recent act of reckless self-endangerment was anything to go off of.
Luna returned her attention to the matter at present and glared at Twilight sternly, “we will be discussing this later in length, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” There was no room for debate in her statement, “now, let us find this ranger station and speak with the one called Tapa Bulu.”
Twilight nodded silently and followed her senior, now soberly aware that Princess Luna was extremely upset with her.
*Payapa Village*
Almost an hour had passed by the time the girls reached the entrance to Mortimer’s village, at least, according to what they could tell by the rising sun.
Their walk from the forest’s edge had been long and uncomfortably silent; their spirits were low; and without the benefit of adrenalin, feelings like hunger and exhaustion were starting to set in.
There was nothing either princess wanted to do more than grab a platter of breakfast foods, gorge themselves into a slumber, and take a second crack at this pokemon world the next day.
Unfortunately for them, this was not an option. Their friends and families were likely already aware of their absence following their disappearance last night and without a doubt they were all fraught with worry. If they had any chance to return home expediently then they needed to take it or risk becoming more involved with this world’s inner workings then they already were.
It was for this reason that Luna led Twilight into the village with nary a word. She was focused on their goal, urged forward only slightly more by the frustration she felt from arguing with Moritmer and annoyance she’d come to hold thanks to her fellow princess’ actions.
She paid little mind to the buildings and pokemon that passed them by. Her younger ally however was immediately enamored. Almost like stepping into an amusement park, Twilight stared at the village’s bizarre architecture with all the delight of an archeologist discovering a lost tomb. Unlike the square or rectangular shapes she was familiar with in common construction, every structure in the village oddly resembled the heads of what she assumed were different kinds of pokemon, or at least had one incorporated somewhere in each building’s design.
The inhabitants of the village were no less bizarre. They took on all manner of forms, some of which Twilight couldn’t even begin to describe. There were a few that resembled animals she was familiar with, but possessed features so exaggerated one could only describe them as cartoonish; others looked like elements of the earth that had been given life and form by some unknown powerful magic; and then there were a few that looked just plain weird. One of them, a large mustachioed creature with an equally large nose, nearly made Twilight jump out of her skin as it floated past her. Its presence made her fur stand on end, almost like her body had just been run over by a powerful magnet.
She turned to Luna, trying to get her attention, but silenced herself once she noticed the task her elder princess was in the middle of. Luna was currently observing a standing sign in front of a building Twilight assumed was a bakery, if the fresh made bread in the window was any indication. She appeared to be trying to read it, but was failing miserably thanks to the strange rune-like shapes that were sketched on the poster.
Looking at the shapes herself, Twilight found it odd that each possessed one constant feature, an eyeball that was present somewhere in each rune’s design.
Unable to read the sign herself, Twilight once again turned to Luna with the idea of possibly asking a local for directions. The elder princess was already moving by the time she did so, apparently already having the same idea in mind. Twilight scampered after her immediately.
Luna led Twilight off the main town road that they had been following into a closed off cul-de-sac like area that was filled with stalls and tents. Much like the buildings, the stalls resembled the faces of the pokemon who ran them, some either down right being shaped like their heads or at minimum possessing a sign that had their image plastered on it.
Many of the stalls were unmanned, likely due to it still being in the early hours of the morning. But from what they could see, the girls were quick to surmise that this area had to be some form of bizarre or marketplace, similar to the ones that populated the more rural areas of Equestria.
Luna’s eyes scanned the stalls for anyone currently passed the stage of setting up. She and Twilight may be in a hurry, but that didn’t mean she was going to excuse her manners and bother someone before their store was open for business. Her eyes soon found a stall that was covered by a tent. The tent resembled a chameleon in shape, but was colored two different hues straight down the middle, one side green with yellow stripes and other side purple with light green stripes. Matching the green side, a kecleon was standing behind the counter with its back turned towards them. Without further hesitation, Luna marched up to the stall.
Luna lightly slapped her paw against the counter in order to garner the kecleon’s attention. It turned away from the wooden shelving rack that sat at the back of the tent. It appeared to have been straightening the items on its shelves before they had arrived.
Having recognized the language in its song, Luna greeted the pokemon properly, “bonjour monsieur, je suis désolé de vous interrompre, mais mon ami et moi avons besoin d'aide.”(1)
The kecleon tilted its head, a look of utter surprised delight stretched wide across its face, “you speak the native language of the Nation of Aura?! Oh mon dieu(2), what a pleasant surprise!~ And here I thought my dear brother and I were the only Auraian immigrants in this part of the continent. I guess it’s true what they say, it really is a small world.” His eyes widened suddenly, “my dear brother..? Mon dieu, my dear brother! I’ve completely forgotten! Please madame pardonne-moi(3), I must collect the co-owner of my store.”
He ducked behind the counter before popping back up seconds later with a purple kecleon held firmly in his hand. A small snot bubble was growing and shrinking on the tip of his nostril and light snoring could be heard coming out of the purple one’s mouth. The green kecleon moved his hand from the nap of his brother’s neck to within his left armpit, then began slapping the other kecleon awake with quick repeated strikes.
“Wakey, wakey, Clark! We have customers. I know you prefer to sleep in at this point of the day, but asserting my dominance as your older brother, I must tell now is not the time.” After losing count of how many slaps he delivered, the bubble finally popped on Clark’s nose. Much to the princesses’ surprise he looked absolutely no worse for wear and seemed only mildly put off by the punishment he received.
“Zut Louise, je suis debout, je suis debout…”(4) He stood on his own and turned his gaze over the counter. He then scratched his lower back in a non-attractive way, letting out a loud yawn as he did so, “alors qui sont nos pidoves aujourd'hui?”(5)
Louise giggled nervously, “oui(6), pidoves. Such cute little birds, those pidoves.” Both Twilight and Luna raise an eyebrow in confusion. Lousie straightened up immediately, “he’s paying you a complement, madames. Pidove is a common term used within our family that started back as far as our great, great, great, great, grandmother. She always thought pidoves were adorable, so she adopted the habit of calling all cute things pidove. Isn't that right, Clark? …Clark?”
The purple kecleon didn’t respond because his jaw had already hit the countertop. He was staring intently at Twilight, a stare his brother knew all too well.
“Sacre bleu, non!(7) Clark, please, we’ve only just met, at least give them a little time before you-”
His request went unheeded as Clark suddenly vaulted over the counter and wrapped Twilight up in his arms. He then spun her in a full circle and dipped her away from the stand as if they were ending a waltz. He ran his fingers through the hair on Twilight’s head, “ah, ma petite chérie, c'est le coup de foudre, n'est-ce pas? Non?”(8) He moved the hand that was caressing her and placed it against his chest, “oh, mais pardonnez-moi, permettez-moi de me présenter. Je suis Clark Le Kecleon, ton amant!”(9)
Unlike her fellow princess, Twilight did not understand a good deal of what Clark was saying, but the language he was using did sound familiar. In fact, it sounded almost word for word similar to Prench if not for his accent. She had been studying Prench alongside many other languages in Equestria as means to better address the diversity of the kingdom, but had yet to master any due to the other responsibilities of said title. That being said, she could tell by the tone in his voice he was trying to flirt with her, an action that almost immediately caused her to sweat.
Her cupped her chin and moved it so their eyes could meet, “maintenant ma douce crêpe suzette, dis-moi ton nom pour que je sache comment m'adresser à la déesse qui est devant moi.”(10)
Again Twilight was uncertain how to respond. She roughly pulled out that he wanted to know her name? To avoid being rude, she decided to answer his request, “T-Twilight. M-My name is Twilight.”
“Ah, un nom si approprié. Car qu'est-ce qui pourrait se comparer à votre beauté alors le scintillement des étoiles du soir elles-mêmes.”(11) He ran a finger down Twilight’s cheek, “très bien mon violet pidove. Nous avons brisé la glace. La parade nuptiale peut maintenant…”(12) He grasped her right paw and brought it up to his snout. He kissed it twice, “maintenant commence la période des regards timides…”(13) He kissed it again, “paupières flottantes…”(14) Two more times, “toucher le bout des doigts…”(15) Then a final three.
By this point, Twilight looked about ready to pass out from heat exhaustion, her face now redder than any produce being sold here at the market. And yet the purple kecleon seemed oblivious to these feelings, that or he was flat out ignoring them.
Whatever the case, Luna had seen more than enough.
She raised her paws and got ready to pull the kecleon away from her frazzled friend, only to suddenly be beaten to the punch when a massive tongue shot outwards and slapped Clark across the back of the head. The purple kecleon clutched the now aching mark and swiveled on the spot to address his brother, leaving Twilight to fall on her haunches with no one there to support her, “c'était pour quoi?!”(16)
Louise now had a scowl on his face, “we have lost far too many customers because of your spontaneous acts of “romance.” I will not lose anymore.” He pointed to the ground beside him for emphasis, “now get back here and let’s do our job right!”
Luna and Twilight watched as the younger kecleon begrudgingly trudged back toward his brother’s side. Lousie adopted an apologetic look once they were back together, “my apologies madames. Please forgive my brother, he is--how you say--the hopeless romantic.” Clark shot Louise a sideways stink eye. “Please, do not take his foolish behavior as reflecting the standard of our work and products.” He bowed his head before the girls, Clark following suit after receiving an elbow to the ribs.
Luna’s brows furrowed even despite their apology. She raised her paw and opened her mouth to scold them, but immediately grew silent when she felt Twilight move her arm back downwards.
“Apology accepted.” Twilight stated.
Luna looked down at her fellow princess with an expression of bewilderment and faded fury, “Twilight, have thou lost thine senses? This…male just harassed you in the most unbecoming manner any lady could receive! Do you have any inkling as to what he just said?!”
Before answering, Twilight glanced back towards the kecleons and noticed the worried look Louise was giving his brother and that Clark was currently sweating bullets. He must have now realized that Luna could understand his native language. She looked back up at her elder princess, “not entirely, but I’m not hurt. Look…” She walked around in a circle so Luna could get a full view of her body. A blush formed on her cheeks as her next words came out of her mouth, “Clark did nothing to hurt me. If anything he handled me very gently. I was just surprised and got nervous because I'm not used to being flirted with. I should have told him that I wasn’t interested before things had gone too far.” She gave Luna a pleading look, “so please, can we just let this go?”
Luna’s stern expression refused to leave, “though I appreciate thine maturity in this situation, Twilight, we still don’t believe this was thou’s fault.”
“But Luna, this is the same exact thing as what happened to Mortimer, only this time I’m the one in his position. Yes, he was extremely obtuse with his intentions, and yes, he put me in a very uncomfortable position, but I said nothing that would tell him I didn’t enjoy that kind of attention.”
Luna growled, “but he should have noticed-”
“Mortimer was upfront with me the moment I began to pester him. I didn’t give Clark that same courtesy, so we don’t know for certain what he would have done if I had asked him to stop. I don’t think it’s fair to judge him so harshly because I was too flustered to react.”
Luna found herself with no argument to make. Her fury began to cool as she gave Twilight’s words some deeper thought. She recalled what she had told Twilight a long while ago after she pushed Mortimer too far, only now she was the one who needed to follow through on the lesson. She sighed, “very well. Apology accepted. I also apologize for my own outburst. We just arrived in this village after an argument with someone we considered a friend, unfortunately it seems my emotions from then have bled into my attitude just now. We shall be on our way and not hamper you-”
Luna was interrupted when she noticed a folded piece of paper being shoved into her face, “all is well, mon chéri.(17) Please, have this free of charge.”
Luna blanched at the suddenness of the kecleon’s proposal. She took the paper and unfolded it, “wha-what is this?”
Louise chuckled at the question, “it’s a map of our lovely Payapa Village, madame. We normally sell them to tourists for two poké a piece, but in this case I felt we owe you.”
She blinked in surprise, “how did you know we were going to ask for directions?”
The kecleon too blinked, “I didn’t.” He said in befuddlement. “I wanted to give you that map so you could find another store to shop at, since our service has proven unsatisfactory. It felt like the courteous thing to do, not waste your time any further that is.”
A weight appeared in the pit of Luna’s stomach, “t-thank you for this gift. We really were in need of this.” She suddenly found it hard to keep eye contact with the shopkeeper, “if it isn’t too much trouble, could I also ask you to show us where this village’s ranger station is on this map?”
Louise nodded and drew his finger across the map towards a picture of a rectangular building with a pair of large horns attached to its sides. Luna memorized the path his finger had taken and smiled appreciatively for his help, “thank you, sir.”
“You’re very welcome, madame.” The kecleon replied, “And please, despite the unpleasantries that have happened between us, do feel free to come visit the Kecleon Shop again anytime. We'd adore another chance to improve your opinion of our humble establishment.”
Luna grimaced. She didn’t want to make a promise she couldn’t keep, but in the interest of ending hostilities, simply replied, “we will try.” Twilight was happy she chose this as her reply. The girls soon shared a few final farewells before heading back towards the market's entrance.
Louise and Clark waited until the two princesses were completely out of view before speaking up again. Clark rested his elbow on the counter then placed his chin in his hand in a forlorn slump, "eh bien, il y a une autre chance de séduire une beauté."(18)
Louise rolled his eyes at his brother’s moping, “oh, don’t start with that again. Your romantics have caused enough trouble for us today. Besides, I’m sure we’ll see them again. The ink on those maps melts after a while unless you keep them chilled, remember?” Clark stared at his brother like had just grown a second head, then began to smile when he remembered their collection of trick maps. “That's the way we get all the tourists to come back.”
*Payapa Village Ranger Station*
The girls’ search for the ranger station went much quicker once they knew what to look for. Within minutes of leaving the marketplace and heading in the direction opposite the village entrance they came in from, Twilight and Luna found themselves at the foot of a building that matched the image on the kecleon brothers’ map exactly.
Like the picture, it was a large carved wood building with massive black horns that vaguely resembled the head of a steer, if that steer had been designed by the artisans of Zecora's homeland. Two large stone bowls sat on either side of a short staircase that led up to the station's entrance, a large opening in the building's with a massive log gate hanging above it.
The girls ascended the stairs without hesitation, both exuding an eagerness to finally get home. Their feet crunched across a wide gravel floor as they entered the building, each noise more then loud enough to draw the attention of the pokemon sitting at the desk in front of them.
The receptionist, a lilligant who had been in the middle of sorting papers for the coming work day, subtly moved her files aside as the girls approached, “Good morning wahines(19) and welcome to the Payapa Village Ranger Station. My name is Kealoha and I am the building secretary. How may I help you today?”
She received no response, for Twilight and Luna were too preoccupied by the building’s utter lack of décor. Save for a set of stairs that led up to the building's second floor and the front desk before them, the entire room was completely bare of any furniture, decorations, or even paint. It almost felt like they had just stepped into an oversized tool shed that had yet to be filled with any tools.
Kealoha cleared her throat loudly, regaining the girls’ attention, “wahines?” They turned back towards the lilligant, “is there anything I can do for you today?”
“Yes, sorry.” Luna said, bowing her head in apology, “we are looking for the one you call, “Tapu Bulu.” We were told he could be found here?”
The lilligant secretary nodded, “yes, but he normally doesn’t see anyone who hasn’t first scheduled a meeting. Can I help you set up an appointment?”
Luna scowled, Mortimer had failed to give them that information, even still she remained cordial, “I’m afraid we don’t have that kind of time. You see, we’re dealing with a rather… peculiar issue, and it is of great importance that we see him right away to address it.”
Kealoha raised an eyebrow, "I understand miss, but regulation purely dictates that-" she paused, almost as if lost in thought. Her eyes suddenly widened, "wait are you..?" She paused again, "have you spoken with the Mōʻī(20) and Mōʻī Wahine(21)?"
Luna looked to Twilight, who returned an unsure expression. The lunar monarch considered lying and claiming they had had an audience with this Mōʻī and Mōʻī Wahine, but ultimately cast away the idea for fear of being asked questions she could not answer.
"We have not, miss." Luna replied, her head sinking towards the ground in dismay. "We were not even aware we needed to ask permission from..." Luna took a moment to choose her words, she not being familiar with what Mōʻī and Mōʻī Wahine translated to, "such officials."
The lilligant nodded her head, and to Luna's surprise, leapt down from her seat to address them personally. Gravel crunched beneath the secretary's feet as she walk around the desk, her journey taking a oddly long time despite the short distance between them. When she finally arrived, the princesses were shocked to discover that the lilligant secretary was only half Twilight's height on all fours.
“This does sound very important and since it is very early the morning..." Kealoha explain, "...I will try and see if Chief Tapu Bulu can squeeze you in for a quick meeting. Does this sound alright?"
Both princesses beamed, “that would be most appreciated, Ms. Kealoha.” Luna replied, "we can't thank you enough!"
Kealoha placed a hand over her mouth and giggled awfully loudly, “please miss, I’m barely twenty three. Just call me Kealoha.”
“And I am over a millennium in age." She said jokingly, "but I too would much prefer that you just call me, Luna.”
This time Kealoha broke out into a full on guffaw. It took her a moment to recompose herself, “I-I promise I will be back with you in a minute. Please don't go anywhere.”
The girls each took a seat on the floor as Kealoha walked back around her desk. “She can raise her voice awfully loud for someone so small.” Twilight whispered.
Luna nodded in agreement, “indeed. These pokemon are truly full of surprises.”
Their ears suddenly perked up when they noticed the sounds of crunching gravel disappear. It now sounded like Kelaloha was stepping onto pieces of worned wood. Twilight and Luna curiously leaned around the corner of the desk, just in time to see the secretary disappear down a large hole in the floor as she descended a ladder. Both girls’ eyes widened in surprise.
“As is this building, it would seem.”
For a good while Twilight and Luna waited for Kealoha to return. Neither were quite certain how much time had passed, the building didn’t possess any windows that allowed them to look at the sky for answers and the view outside the door was blocked by the buildings across the street. However long it was, it had to be decently lengthy because they had managed to complete six rounds of tic-tac-toe and several full games of twenty questions by the time the secretary returned. A good thing too, because Luna was starting to grow impatient with her streak of losses.
“Good news! Tapu Bulu has just enough time to set aside for a meeting. Please follow me.”
The girls followed Kealoha towards the back of the room and down the ladder, which dove down quite a number of feet. Five minutes at least surely had to have passed by the time they reached the bottom, revealing to the two a long tunnel that stretched in both directions with multiple openings on either wall.
“Just this way, please.” She led the girls down the tunnel stretching to their left, before turning quickly down a corridor to her right. Besides a number of torches lining the walls, the tunnels looked identically similar. It made the girls wonder just how any creature was supposed to navigate this underground maze.
Twilight, not being one to let her curiosity go unchecked, was the first to voice a question, “Um… Kealoha?”
“Yes, Miss.”
“Twilight, if you please. How exactly do you know where you're going?” They turned down another identical tunnel, “all these tunnels look practically the same to me.”
“Oh, that’s because I studied the maps of these tunnels. A necessary part of the job for a secretary, just in case I need to find one of the rangers who work here or pick up a file from storage.” She looked around at the walls of the tunnel they were in, “but I don’t blame you for getting confused, it is very easy to get lost down here if you don’t know what to look for. That’s why we employ the digletts.”
“Hello yes, that is my species!” Twilight and Luna shrieked in terror as a rounded pokemon with three blond hairs on its head popped out of the ground between them. “Do you have needence of Doug?”
Kealoha briefly chuckled and shook her, “no Doug, we're fine.”
“Very well. Doug will leave you then. But not for very long.”
The mole pokemon shot back underground refilling the hole it came out of as it went. Luna was quick to voice her stupefaction once he was fully gone, “what was that?”
“That was a diglett. They’re the ones who dug these tunnels, at our request of course. I can understand if you’ve never seen one before, they very rarely come above ground. If he ever comes back I’ll introduce you. His name is Doug.”
“I heard.” Luna replied. She shook her head in annoyance, almost as if responding to a corny joke, “is that really his name?”
“Well I’m told they’re all named Doug actually. Though I’m not completely sure if that’s true. It’s the only name they respond to, but I’ve heard tell that they only do that because they think it’s funny.”
Doug again popped out of the earth, this time from the right side wall. “Digletts live their entire lives underground. We dig holes to survive, so digging is a sacred word to our kind. Doug thusly is a name of great renown. So much so that every diglett wishes they could own the title. So we do.” He slowly began to sink back into the wall, “we are all Doug down here.”
The three pokemon watched Doug in awkward silence as his new hole was once again refilled. A full minute passed before any of them felt comfortable enough to speak again. “They also act as guides down here.” Kealoha continued, “they know these tunnels better than anyone else. In fact, if you prefer I can call him back and-”
“No!” Twilight and Luna shouted in unison.
Kealoha let another hearty laugh, “most pokemon give that response.” She bowed her head at them, “forgive me, it was only a joke.” She turned back towards the end of the tunnel and led the two the rest of the way down. They only stopped when they reached an opening with two red curtains covering it, “this is Chief Tapu Bulu’s office. He’s expecting you, so please feel free to step inside.” She began walking past the girls, “now if you’ll excuse me, I must return to the front desk. We aren’t so busy this early in the morning, but as your own presence will tell you, you never can quite tell when someone may choose to show up.”
The girls nodded in agreement, “we understand completely. Thank you so much for your assistance, Kelaloha.” Luna expressed.
The lilligant gave them a quick curtsy before heading off on her way, leaving the girls to face the village’s head of law enforcement on their own. Luna straightened her posture and took up a stance that exuded a sense of nobility and professionalism, a pose she had much practice in performing thanks to her many years of entertaining high class individuals. She nudged Twilight in the shoulder and wordlessly told her to do the same.
“Allow me to do most of the talking once we’re inside, Twilight.” Luna requested, “I do not doubt that this Chief Tapu Bulu will be willing to aid us as soon as he hears of our plight, but matters such as these need to be dealt with in a serious and straightforward manner. As you’ve seen in conversation with Mortimer, our story does sound quite ridiculous, so it may take some additional convincing before he’s fully willing to believe us. We will need to act on our best behavior and remember though we are royalty, he is the one of higher authority here.”
Twilight puffed out her chest and adopted a similar pose to Luna’s own, “of course, Princess Luna.” She gave a mock salute for emphasis, “I promise to be on my best behavior.”
Luna chuckled at the display, but quickly retook her previous stance. She led Twilight into the room, fully expecting to find a professional looking pokemon who would fit the title they had been presented. What they found instead was a bovine looking pokemon laid sideways across the top of his desk, eyes closed and noticeably snoring.
Both girls deflated in response, their upright postures dropping to express their feelings of disbelief. They glanced at each other briefly before returning to more relaxed poses. Luna stepped forwards and knocked on the front of the desk.
“Um… Mr. Tapu Bulu? We come to seek an audience with you? Your secretary just set up this meeting?”
The chief stirred on top of his desk but did not awaken immediately. Instead his eyes fluttered open slowly, taking a full minute to completely lift as if he were trying to keep himself asleep. His snoring abruptly stopped when he got a full view of the girls.
“Wha- Oh! That’s right!” He rose off his desk, literally taking flight so he could soar a good foot above the girls. He slapped his hoof-like appendages against his cheeks, “Wakey! Wakey!” and floated back behind his desk. The girls watched as he took a seat without actual need of a chair.
“Apologies, wahines. I was aware you were coming, but I lost myself to the caress of slumber while I was waiting.” He placed his hooves on the desk and bowed to them in apology, “please forgive me, I have this terrible condition that makes me fall asleep rather easily?”
Twilight’s ears perked up, instantly curious, “oh, do you suffer from narcolepsy?”
The chief scratched his chin in thought, “no that’s not what it was called.”
Twilight tilted her head, “perhaps then some form of insomnia?”
“Boredom…that’s it!” He exclaimed suddenly, “I get really sleepy when I’m bored.” Both girls fell face first to the floor in response. “I really need to get myself a desk toy or something to occupy my time. All the paperwork I do helps to keep me busy, but when it’s done, then what? I’m asleep at my desk. Very unprofessional.” He shook his head in disappointment for his own actions.
Both girls picked themselves up from the floor, “yes well, that aside we thank you for meeting with us Mr. Tapu Bulu.” Luna extended her paw for the chief to shake, “my name is Luna and this is my young associate, Twilight.”
The chief let loose a deep belly laugh before grasping her in a hearty shake, “delighted, miss! But please just call me, Bulu. No need for formalities here. After all, I’m the one who’s supposed to be helping you.”
He reached down and grasped Twilight’s paw after Luna’s and shook her so violently she actually lifted off the ground. Once finished, he began speaking again, “now I hear from Kealoha that you two are dealing with a... "peculiar issue?" Of course, she didn’t give specifics, but I have a feeling I might already know what's going on.”
Luna scratched the back of her head, "if only." She wanted to respond with. Instead she said, “yes and peculiar is putting it mildly. You see we’ve already tried to ask someone for help with this problem, but the explanation we gave for our issue left them thinking we were less than reputable.”
“But we promise it’s all completely true!” Twilight added.
Tapu Bulu tapped his hooves together with slight apprehension, “I see. Well I can’t lie and say that doesn’t make me feel the least bit dubious, but I wouldn’t be a very good ranger chief if I didn’t give you the courtesy of hearing you out.” He leaned forwards on his desk, almost excitedly so, “so please go ahead... enthrall me.”
Luna wasted no time and explained everything that had happened to them up to this point. They expected to get another confused or disbelieving look, but instead were surprised to see nothing but curiosity on Tapu Bulu’s face. He leaned on one hoof and pointed at the girls with the other, “so you say you're both from another world and you need help figuring out a way to get yourselves back?” He tapped his hooves together again in thought, “hmmm..?”
Silence filled the room and for that moment the girls were afraid they’d once again would be shooed away with no direction to head in. That is until Tapu Bulu spoke again, “I’m going to need to call in a professional, if that’s alright? Just to make sure what you're saying is one hundred percent true.”
The girls looked at each other. They had made it this far without scaring away the chief, what did they really have to lose? “Of course, sir. Whatever you think is necessary.”
Tapu Bulu nodded at Luna then turned towards the wall behind him, “Doug! Could one of you come in here for a second?! Doug!”
“Yes, do you have needance of Doug?” A diglett popped out of the soil between both Twilight and Luna once again, making both princesses jump.
“Oh, there you are. Could you be a sport go see if Beckham is in the station right now? I require her services.” Tapu Bulu glanced at the girls briefly, “also did anyone offer you a coffee? Or at least water? I feel like I’m being a bad host.”
The girls shook their heads, but declined his offer. Though it was appreciated, neither one of them wanted to make the station’s rangers work any harder than they already were.
Doug left the room quickly after receiving his orders. Several minutes passed, forcing the three still in the room to pass the time with idle conversation. Twilight and Luna asked the chief about the history and purpose of the rangers on this island, a question Tapu Bulu was all too happy to answer. His words were boisterous and his story long winded, but in essence he told them what they already surmised. The rangers were the primary source of law enforcement on the island as well as on every other continent in world. The rangers themselves came in three ranks: officers, those who handled the enforcement of laws and criminal investigations; managers, those who oversaw the operations of ranger stations and delegated work to their officers; and chiefs, who held the highest rank in the organization and were responsible for the operations of all ranger stations within a given area. Tapu Bulu was one of these and was tasked with monitoring the productivity of all stations located on the island.
Before any more questions could be asked, Doug’s voice rang out from down the hall. In fact, if Twilight and Luna didn’t know any better, they could have sworn several copies of Doug’s voice were ringing out from down the hall.
The girls were shocked backwards into Tapu Bulu’s desk when several digletts came into the room with a cross-legged medicham sat atop their heads. The pokemon looked to be lost in a meditative state, one so deep it appeared that she didn’t even respond when the digletts tossed her unceremoniously onto the floor.
Like a flock of chickens at feeding time, every diglett then turned their eyes towards Tapu Bulu, “do you have further needence of Doug?” They all shouted in unison.
Twilight and Luna could feel their ears ringing, “no thank you, boys.” Tapu Bulu replied. “You're free to go.”
“Very well.” The Dougs replied. “We Dougs will leave you then. But not for very long.” They all sank slowly into the floor before refilling their holes, each never breaking eye contact with the three pokemon in front of them. Twilight and Luna very quickly decided they did not care very much for the Dougs.
Tapu Bulu floated past the girls and helped the medicham to her feet. “I know they're creepy, but they get the job done, and do excellent work too. Have you seen the craftsmanship on those tunnels? They are masterful.” He floated back past them and behind his desk. The girls did not respond, for they were too busy staring in confusion at pokemon wobbling in front of them, clearly still in a trance.
“You are also probably wondering what’s up with Beckham. Yeah, don’t worry too much about her.” He dug through a drawer until he found an item the girls thought was rather odd, a handbell. “She's originally from the Nation of Philosophy and the pokemon over there are known to be interested in a lot of strange stuff.” He flew back over to Beckham and held the bell next to the side of her head, “Beckham here for instance likes to meditate for a couple hours before starting her shift. She says she does it to expand her mind and senses to better become one with the universe, but personally I just find that all to be a lot of gobbledygook. I tried it once before with her to see what she was getting at, but I ended up just falling asleep.” He moved his wrist, ready to shake the bell, then paused, “also don’t tell her I told you any of that. I’d hate for her to think I’m the kind of boss who makes fun of his employees behind their backs.”
He shook the bell and the medicham awoke, almost instantly regaining her clarity. The first thing she noticed was the chief, “Chief Bulu? Is it time for my shift already? Major bummer. I was riding on some mondo vibes, bro. Me and the universe were getting to know each other in an intimate way, you know what I’m saying?”
Tapu Bulu adopted a flat expression, “no and I don’t think I want to?” He turned his eyes towards the girls, urging Beckham to do the same, “Beckham, this is Twilight and Luna, they’ve come here to ask for help with a peculiar issue. They say they're from another world?”
Beckhem raised an eyebrow, “oh?” Her posture suddenly changed from a relaxed slouch to an almost militaristic upright stance, “and do you think they might be lying to you, sir?”
“Not so much, no.” His voice carried an odd seriousness despite the subject matter, “but that’s why I’ve requested to have you verify their story's credibility, just in case my gut feeling is wrong.”
Beckham’s eyes met Luna’s, “very well then.” She marched over towards the two princesses. Instinctively, Luna stepped in front of Twilight as if expecting the other pokemon to attack.
Beckham raised her hand for Luna to take, “shall we begin?”
Hesitantly, Luna replied, “of course.” She took Beckham’s hand in her own, “do you need me to start from the beginning, Ms. Beckham?”
Beckham shook her head, “no need. I am already reading your mind.”
“Wait what?!” Twilight exclaimed.
Luna brows lowered into a displeased expression. With everything she and Twilight had seen today, she wasn’t at all surprised. That still didn’t mean she had to enjoy the information that had just been given to her, “you aren’t searching too deeply with this power of yours are you?”
Tapu Bulu chuckled, “if she was, shouldn’t be working here, I can tell you that much.” He followed this statement with a wave of his hoof to ward away any more of Luna’s worries, “despite what outward appearances may say when you first meet her, Beckham here is actually one of our most professional rangers. She’s dutiful, task oriented, and stern but to the point. We like to call it her work face when she’s on the clock.”
Beckham suddenly let go of Luna’s paw, regaining everyone’s attention, “she’s telling the truth, sir. Ms. Luna and her friend are from another world.”
“Hmm!” Tapu Bulu sounded happy about this. He then began to speak softly, “I guess that news I received was correct.” He readdressed the girls, “well then, I guess all that there is to do now is set you up with a place to stay while I run this through the proper channels.”
Twilight and Luna grew excited. They were one step closer to finally getting home!
Tapu Bulu pulled out a large book from the drawers in his desk, “now where to send you?” He scratched his chin with his hoof, “I do believe the museum was looking for a few new caretakers? Tell me, do you girls have any experience with musty old tomes and/or historical artifacts?”
